Khajur Imli Chutney is the combination of sweet and sour as you can imagine the both ingredients in this recipe, date for sweetness and Tamarind for sour are used. Sometimes, Gur (Jaggery),sort of solid molasses is used if Dates are not available or some use combination of both. Sometimes I use both Jaggery and Dates.
An essential accompaniment to most chaats, this chutney can be stored refrigerated for upto a month and deep frozen for more than 6 months. I usually prepare all chutneys in bulk and freeze, so whenever I crave for any chaats, I can quickly prepare few ingredients and jazz up with chutneys.
This sweet and sour chutney blend spruces up almost all chaat recipes. During summer time, when my diet is mostly cold food, I love to jazz up my recipes with chutneys. As most chutneys like this freezes well, I prepare the concentrate of some chutneys, freeze in single servings and use when needed.
Khajur Imli Chutney – Date Tamarind Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 cups dates (khajur), deseeded – Or use 3 cups Dates + 1 cup Jaggery(Gur)
- ¼ cup tamarind (imli), deseeded
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- a pinch of asafoetida (hing) – optional
Instructions
- Wash the dates and tamarind and place them in a saucepan.
- Add the jaggery, chilli powder, asafoetida, salt and 4 cups of water and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Or pressure cook, hear about 4 whistles, about 8 minutes.
- Cool and strain the mixture through a sieve.
- Use as required. Store refrigerated.
Tips
- I sometimes soak overnight, next day grind in food processor and strain for no cook version, specially when I want to freeze in bulk. I keep concentrate and use when needed.
- You can also purée the chutney in a food processor and then strain it.
You can watch my video below to learn many other chutneys easy way.
