Friday, February 15, 2008

Red Bell Pepper Chutney

I had this whole batch of idli maavu sitting in the fridge and was running low on chutney. I was thinking of my options as far as making chutneys and for some reason, I was totally stumped. If it were left up to my husband, he'd want coconut chutney every day. I don't do this mainly for health reasons.

Anyway, I was searching around for recipes, when I came across a recipe for red bell pepper chutney on pachakam.com. I happened to have a red bell pepper in the fridge, so I tried it and it was FANTASTIC! Even my husband liked it, and that's saying a lot. Basically, if it's not coconut chutney, peanut chutney, or mint chutney, he's not thrilled. So, I was pleasantly surpirsed with this one.

It's got the fragrance of bell pepper, and is hot and a little sour from tamarind. Easy, quick, and yummy!!


Ingredients:

Red bell pepper - 1, coarsely chopped
Tomatoes - 1 large or 2 medium, coarsely chopped
Green chillies - 10, or to taste
Garlic - 3 cloves, coarsely chopped
Tamarind - small gooseberry size
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Oil
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method:

1. Heat oil in pan until very hot. Add tomatoes and fry on very high heat until they soften a bit on the edges.

2. Add the bell pepper, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and continue to fry on very high until the edges char a bit and the veggies have softened.

3. Cool completely and grind with tamarind and salt to taste. Add a little water if necessary to grind or if you don't want a very thick chutney.

4. Heat oil in pan and season the chutney using mustard and curry leaves. Pour seasoning over the chutney.

Serve with any tiffin item like idli, dosa, uthappam, etc. Enjoy! :)

23 comments:

DEEPA said...

Awesome Chutney !!!It should well with dosai or idli ..I will try it soon!!!

Cynthia said...

I love the colour!

Manju said...

i have pretty much run out of ideas for chutney or so i thought, till i saw this.. this is a good one.. :):)

Uma said...

Looks so good! Bright color. Yum! I like your pinapple upside down cake too!

Kalai said...

Deepa, it is awesome for sure! Yes, it's delicious with idli and dosai!

Cynthia, thank you, thank you. dear! So sweet of you to say so. The credit goes to the bell peppers! :)

Superchef, I feel your pain, girl! Sometimes I get totally stumped and frustrated, but this turned out to be a great one! :)

Maheswari said...

Kalai..that's sure looks delicious...a must try and ideal match for dosa...

A Cook @ Heart said...

Looks gr8! I tried a version of this chutney from Mahanandi , that is a hit in my home too! Hv red bell peppers in the fridge, this time I will try ur version! Thanx!!!!!!

Akila said...

wow!!! looks so tempting yaar. nice recipe

Daily Meals said...

Hi Kalai! The chutney looks yummy.

FH said...

Beautiful chutney sis! I made it once, love the taste too!:))

Kalai said...

Thanks, Maheshwari! Would be great with dosai! :)

A Cook at heart: Thanks for telling me abt Indira's version. Will check it out for sure. Definitely try this one and let me know what u think! :)

Akila, thanks for the kind words and welcome to my blog! :)

Daily Meals, want to try some? :)

Ashakka, glad to hear you loved it too. Have a great weekend! :)

Sig said...

Beautiful color.. though I could eat coconut chutney everyday, it is such a pain defrosting coconut when we need a quick chutney... this is a great idea!

EC said...

wow...even i am waiting to try it out..agree that it is a very good change to our regular chutneys

Mythreyee said...

I have to try this one. I keep doing rice varieties with this bell pepper. Your recipe sounds cool.

TBC said...

Like Manasi, I too have tried Indira's version of this.:)

Your chutney has such an intense color!

Lisa Turner said...

Kalai;

This sounds wonderful! I'm a big fan of chutneys and have been making them more of late.

Kalai said...

Thanks, Sig! My husband could also live on coconut chutney everyday! :)

Easycrafts, would love to hear your feedback after you try it! :)

Mythreyee, I'd love to try out your rice varieties!

Budding cook, thanks for the kind words. :)

Lisa, that's really cool that you've been making more chutneys. I hope you give this one a try! :)

Dhivya said...

sounds great...will surely try..pic looks yummy and delicious

Anonymous said...

Wow....this looks delicious!! Will definitely try it out.

Raaga said...

I love the colour :-) looks so tempting

Kalai said...

Thanks so much, Dhivya! :)

Do try it out and let me know, Homecooked!:)

Tempting and healthy. Thanks, Raaga! :)

Shah cooks said...

nice color and texture..definitely a change from the usual chutneys. will surely try it!!

Kalai said...

Shaheen, welcome to my blog! Pls do try it out and let me know what you think. :)