The five-in-one chutney

The five-in-one chutney

Chutney is an Indian condiment prepared most often with coconut, two or three types of dal (dried lentils), green chilies and salt. Don't confuse this with Chutney music or groove Chutney. Some versions of chutney uses vegetables or green leafy vegetables as a main ingredient. Chutney can vaguely be compared with sauce. It is a thick, coarse sauce like dish. In Sanskrit 'catni' (from which the word chutney was derived) means 'to lick'. Most of us would have been tempted to touch the chutney with a finger and lick it as soon as it was placed on the platter. The flagship south Indian delicacies like idly and dosa would have been out of favour but for this taste enhancing condiment. The term 'chutney' has been well assimilated with  Tamil language vocabulary. Of course there is an  alternative term for 'chutney' in tamil. It is 'thuvaiyal'. Normally green chilis are used to prepare the 'chutney' and dried chili peppers for 'thuvaiyal'. Use of dried chilis gives a dark red color to the chutney.

Srirangam Sarangarajan

There are people to whom cooking is a passion . They go on to innovate and invent new delicacies. The five-in-one Chutney is one such invention made by  the proprietor of Sai Mess,Vridhachalam. Shri. Sarangarajan, Maternal uncle of my wife informed me about this delicacy and gave me the recipe also. Sarangarajan during his stint as assistant manager of State bank of India at Vriddhachalam enjoyed this taste enhancer at Sai Mess which was situated at Vridhachalam main road.

INGREDIENTS

Black gram dal -  2 spoonfuls
Bengal gram dal - 2 spoonfuls
Dried chili peppers - 6
Asafoetida powder - a pinch 
Curry leaves - 2 small bunches
Coriander leaves - a fistful of leaves
Coconut - 2 medium sized pieces
Tamarind pulp - 10 grams 
Ginger - a small piece
Tomato - single fruit (Chopped)
Salt - 1/2 spoonful

HOW TO......?

Heat 2 spoonfuls of gingelly oil (Sesame oil, til oil) in a wok. Fry the lentils, dried chilli peppers and asafoetida till they become golden brown in color. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves, chopped tomatoes, ginger pieces and fry for a few seconds. Leave the fried ingredients for a while. After the heat subsides add coconut pieces, tamarind pulp and salt and grind coarsely by adding about 25 m.l. of water.

Now the chutney is ready for you to relish.

The five-in-one chutney or Panchamirtha thuvaiyal

The five-in-one chutney or panchamirtha thuvaiyal, pairs well with idly, dosa, chappathi (flat bread made of wheat), butter milk rice and curd rice. if you like you can also add 2 green chilis and a fistful of fried gram (Alternative terms: roasted gram, 'pottu kadalai' in tamil, 'udacha kadalai' in Chennai parlance). Adding fried gram is suitable for preparing the chutney in bulk quantities.