Tomato, Cilantro Chutney

When I visited my cousin in pittsburgh, she made this chutney to go with dosas. It tasted so good that I literally consumed the entire chutney. And did I tell you that it hardly takes 10 minutes to make this one? Yes, you heard it right. You can use any type of tomatoes to make this chutney, however I found that PLUM tomatoes are the best. My mom makes the same chutney, but she also uses mint leaves along with cilantro. I haven't used mint leaves because I found that they are little bit overwhelming. But, you can make it either ways - with/without mint leaves.

To fry the tomatoes, I have used the LNL vitamin 11 - inch red wok that I received through their supporters program. I found the wok appropriate to fry the tomatoes and the best part is that you can wipe the wok with a paper towel and put the popu in the same wok again. And the coating on this pan is non toxic, so no worries about all those dangers that accompany the non stick pans.

So, now to the recipe:

Ingredients:

For popu/tadka:

Chana Dal - 1 tbsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chillis - 3

Curry leaves

Oil - 1 tbsp

For the chutney:

Tomatoes - 6 ( medium sized plum tomatoes)

Cilantro - 1/2 bunch (Use just the leaves and not stems)

Green chillies - 10 (more/less depending on the spiciness required)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1.Wash the tomatoes, chop them into big pieces (I have a few cherry tomatoes that I wanted to use. Hence I used a combination of plum and cherry tomatoes).

2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies and fry them on medium flame until the tomatoes are mushy. 

3. Add cilantro and fry them for a couple of minutes.

4. Now, grind this into a paste and take it into a bowl.

5. Heat oil in a frying pan. Put chana dal, mustard seeds, urad dal and cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add this popu to the tomato, cilantro paste and the chutney is ready to be served with dosas/idlis/vadas.

The chutney was so tasty that it didn't last long for me to take a picture.