Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Dip Those Momo And Anything Else! Quick Tomato Chutney.

    I love chutneys and dipping sauces of all sorts. There's a certain zen state I get into when I'm canning things, and since nearly all my stores of chutney have been demolished because of all the holiday feasting, I need to get started and make some more. Like yesterday. I'm going to be participating in a burger cooking expo in the Plaza this coming weekend. I'm making kheema and I'm also going to be making some condiments to go with it. How all this is going to go down in a crowd I have no idea, but it should make for some interesting (read embarrassing) pictures.      
   While I worked that out I was faced with making some sauces that would be appropriate for the various momo I served last week at Tim and Irvings' party. I made two types of momo, vegetarian and for those who wanted it, chicken. The vegetarian momo turned out to come from a rather lazy idea of mine.
   One of my favorite Indian salads is a cabbage and carrot salad garnished with roast peanuts, (My version uses peanut powder.) It's quick and easy and always a big favorite at our house. For my purposes I've  changed only two things in this recipe:
 1) I shred the carrots instead of slicing them on a mandolin.
 2) I use peanut powder instead of whole roast peanuts.
 Other than that the recipe is the same, and I've found it makes an amazing stuffing for vegetarian momo.
   The Tamarind chutney I made went perfectly with the cabbage and carrot momo. The tartness of the tamarind with a hint of jaggery, or piloncilo, or brown sugar if you haven't got it was just what the sweet vegetables in the momo needed. But what of the chicken momo???  I decided to make a second chutney since of course I have all the time in the world... not. I was looking for something fast and something that would work with everything else I was making. The answer, Tomato Chutney.
  The great thing about this chutney is that it makes up fast and you can have it on the table quick, quick, quick. I used canned tomatoes as right now we're not exactly at the height of tomato season. this works fine as long as you use the best quality canned tomatoes you can get.


Indian Style Momo Dumplings




Here's what to do:
 In a large pan or kadhai heat up 2 Tbs of vegetable oil. I  use coconut oil. When the oil is hot toss in:
 2 cups of thinly sliced onions
 4 dried red chilies seeded and crumbled up
 1 tbs chopped fresh ginger.
 Stir this all around, cooking it for about 5 minutes or so until the onions  get a bit soft.
 Add in:
 canned tomatoes equal to about 4 or 5 chopped tomatoes.
 Salt to taste (if you're using canned tomatoes, remember all of them have salt unless you buy the unsalted variety as I do.)
 Cook the tomoatoes for about 5 to 10 minutes until they're cooked through and softened.
 Put the tomato mixture into a blender or food processor and grind it up to a chunky consistency.
 Put it into a bowl  and set it aside.

It's time for the chaunk or seasoning:
In a small skillet heat 1 Tbs of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot toss in:
 1 tsp black mustard seed
 1 tsp urad dal (this is optional)
 and 8 or so fresh or frozen curry leaves if you have them.
 When the mustard seeds start to pop, pour everything into the tomato mixture and stir it up well.
That's it. This makes about 3 cups of chutney. This goes with a whole lot of stuff, everything from momo to samosas to whatever, either Indian specialties or Western dishes.
   Coming up next, I'm finally getting around to mushrooms cooked like meat. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

7 comments :

  1. oh, Kathy! This looks amazing! I can't wait to give it a try!

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  2. So when are you going to share some of this momo love?? =)

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  3. this looks so good! I love the smell of curry leaves and mustard seeds spluttering away.

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  4. I love the chutney recipe. I have never used udad dall for the tempering. Must try that.

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  5. @Mina Joshi,
    funny, I've rarely done any tempering without it! I guess it's just fine without too.

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  6. Belinda @zomppa,
    ha ha!! I need a mobile momo truck

    ReplyDelete

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