Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Roasted Tomato Chutney

This recipe started when I bought a couple dozen beautiful tomatoes at the Farmers Market last Thursday. Then I kept the oven at a slow and steady 200F for a whole 12 hours on Friday and roasted the tomatoes with garlic and herbs, transforming the already tasty tomatoes into something more like candy.

That night, I put together the pasta salad that was my Big Discovery of last summer. A year later, I am still surprised at how much everyone loves it. 

A few leftover roasted tomatoes were stashed in a small container. What followed was a weekend of such rare and spectacular perfection that it makes me worry about the future. By the law of averages the rest of the year will have ghastly weather. But I digress. Luxurious weekends are just the thing for the dosa ritual- soaking, grinding, fermenting- and the resulting dosa deserves a tasty chutney to accompany it. 

Chutneys are so remarkably versatile. The traditional formulations are wonderful, but you can always invent a new one based on the unique contents of your fridge. I usually use a sauteed vegetable (tomatoes, onions, zucchini) or an herb (parsley, cilantro) with some coconut (frozen, defrosted)and some roasted gram (called phutane in Marathi and dalia in Hindi) to thicken the mixture and help the grinding process. The chutney gets some heat from fresh green chillies or red chilli powder, and of course some salt and some fresh lemon juice to brighten the flavors. A sizzling tempering of mustard seeds, asafetida and curry leaves provides the final savory touch to bring it all together. 

Roasted Tomato Chutney

1. Grind together to a thick paste, using some warm water as required (all quantities are flexible):
1 cup roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh (or defrosted frozen) coconut
1/4 cup roasted gram dal
Red chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste

2. Make a tempering, pour it on the chutney and stir together:
2 tsp. oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
pinch of asafetida

I love trying dosa recipes from different blogs, and this week I made Vaishali's brown rice dosa. I love her idea of microwaving the rice for just a few minutes to soften it up and make grinding easier. Dosa is the perfect vehicle for brown rice and I have now switched entirely to using brown rice in all dosa recipes.

Wait a second...Dale is saying something.

Dale's Tales

Dale is the self-appointed sheriff of the backyard. He watches over his little kingdom from his vantage point on the porch. If he sees any threats to law and order, such as squirrels squabbling in the high branches or kitties walking along the fence, he leaves his sunny spot and makes a mad dash to bark sharply at them.

For now, the yard is quiet and peaceful and all is well with the world.


30 comments:

  1. Hi Nupur..that chutney looks delish and the tempering on top makes mt mouth water.Dale's Tales were too cute!
    Sinfully Spicy

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  2. Hi Nupur
    that chutney looks mouthwatering..colourful..hey why don't you send it to my event...Chutney !

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  3. wow, the chutney is so tempting, love that it is roasted. Will surely give it a try.

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  4. Hey Nupur,

    thats a mouthwatering chutney! I loved that dosa-chutney pic.

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  5. The chutney sounds soooo yum! Is there a quicker way to roast the tomatoes? Although I am sure the tatste may not be as good as slow roasting.

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  6. I too love that dosa n chutney pic.. Looks delicious..

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  7. "What followed was a weekend of such rare and spectacular perfection that it makes me worry about the future. By the law of averages the rest of the year will have ghastly weather." - You've combined and captured the sublime and the anti-climactic so well in these two sentences. :)

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  8. Hi Nupur, tomato chutney idea sounds fantastic. Makes me wonder if we could sun dry the tomatoes+garlic-herb and get a similar effect of 200F for 12hours?

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  9. The chutney looks delicious, and what a great way to use oven-roasted tomatoes. I've just made 10 pounds of slow-roasted plum tomatoes to last through the winter.

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  10. Agree with Sra. I went over those lines a few times to savor them. Sorry to say, they overshadowed the delicious chutney. :)

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  11. Brown rice dosas look crispy and the chutney sounds tempting. I recently switched to brown rice too nupur, tried rotis (karnataka spl) and khichdis..comes out well..Yet to try dosa though.

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  12. Chutney looks delicious..always love to hear Dale's-tales..he is adorable..:) was missing your post and this one refreshed me!thanks

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  13. What a glorious color! The chutney looks perfect :)
    I have a sack of brown rice ( which i find way to chewy to eat) and I am bookmarking this:)

    Dalu Bhai ki Jai!!! Muuuaaaah!

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  14. Chutney looks mouthwatering Nupur. Feels like grabing the dosa plate :)

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  15. WOw , its so tempting .. I dont think I can roast it in oven for 12 hours here .. I will try roasting it in gas flame :) ..

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  16. Dale's such a cutie. I sure would like to hear more from him :)
    Never would've thought of a roasted tomato chutney-- that sounds like a perfect pairing with the dosa and one I'd like to try, now that the critters finally seem to be leaving some tomatoes back for me.

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  17. Ahhh that sounds like a lovely weekend. Tomato chutney looks gorgeous

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  18. Hi Nupur,
    I tried posting it in your contact form but not matter how many times I entered the code it said wrong code, so I am posting this here:


    Hi Nupur,
    My name is Renuka and I am new to food blogging. I love cooking and baking, but never blogged about it. Recently I started this food blog and I have become so addicted to it.
    I love your food blog, especially since you cook such a variety of dishes and your love for food shows in your writings.
    I did add a link of your blog on my website and was wondering if that was okay with you. Also if you like my blog, and only if you do, could you please add a link of my website to your blog roll too.....Thanking you,
    Renuka,
    www.cuminandcardamom.blogspot.com

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  19. Gosh, this looks really delish....I love tomatoes and roasted tomatoes are even better. I will try this recipe out....definitely.

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  20. Hi Nupur,

    I have tried sun dried tomatoes in chutneys...i am sure roasting them is gonna being out the flavours even more...Your tempering makes me want to grab a peice of pita or dosa and dunk it in!!!

    Shobha

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  21. Delicious looking chutney, and Dale is quite the handsome fellow!

    On a different note..I've always liked that name...chutney. It makes me think of a snobbish girl from the East coast. Her boyfriend would be named "Biff" or perhaps "Roger" (pronounced raaahhhger!) weird, I know! lol

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  22. For me dosa is more part of the weeknight meals. I have some tomatoes that are waiting. I made Ammini's tomato chutney recently from Manisha's blog and so Yum!!

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  23. Tanvi- Thanks, but I would truly appreciate if you did not leave a link to your blog in the comments. I will not post your comment if you continue to do that- many bloggers, like me, think of it as self-advertisement and do not like it.

    Jagruti- Thanks.

    Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal- It is simple and tasty, worth a try :)

    Rachana- Thanks.

    Sangeetha- Check that link to roasted tomatoes in my post, that blogger (Alanna) has compared different roasting times, and 12 hours was the most flavorful.

    Nitha- Thanks.

    sra- LOL, and since then, have gotten a couple of stern lectures on "living in the moment" :)

    Mangala Prabhu- Yes, if you live in a place with very hot dry weather, and have a place to sun dry, then I believe it works quite well.

    Lydia- Really? I did not get around to making big batches, we seem to quickly eat up whatever I roast :D

    Jaya Wagle- Thanks, that is my inner pessimist talking ;)

    ruchikacooks- I haven't switched to brown rice entirely (unlikely to happen) but love using it in several ways. Dosa for me has been the perfect thing to use brown rice in.

    Madhuli- Thanks, Dale says he would like more face-time on the blog too :D

    Manasi- Oh, you must try brown rice in dosas then, it is wonderful and you'll use it up quickly. Dalu is hanging out his tongue and smiling at you :)

    Vidhya- Thanks!

    Pavithra Srihari- Let us know if your method works!

    Vaishali- Oh with your own tomatoes this will be truly sublime. Roasting takes them to whole
    'nother level.

    Bong Mom- Sigh, it was, now it is only a sweet memory :D with storms lashing us two nights in a row.

    Renuka- Sorry about the problem. I set up a new e-mail account for the blog yesterday, so from now things should be much easier.
    Thanks for your note, and yes, adding a link to my blog is OK and an honor. I wish you lots of fun and success with your blog.

    Shobha- We love sun dried tomatoes too, and in this season, roasted tomatoes take the place for that deep rich tomato flavor.

    Jessica- LOL I like your imagination, yes, chutney would be a saucy girl for sure!

    giniann- Thanks for stopping by.

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  25. That chutney looks great. Yes, one different chutney can totally change the nakshaa of a dosa plate.

    I must admit, Nupur, your comments section is sometimes mazeydaar ekdum! :D

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  26. Hi Nupur,

    This recipe is very similar to the one My mom and now I make pretty often as a side for dosas or idlis.

    My mom adds carmelized onions instead of coconut to get the creamy texture.

    The taste is just as good.

    Happy Blogging!
    Sona aka ssri17

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  27. Hi Nupur,
    I chanced upon your blog and one look at the awesome chutney was enough motivation for me to to buy a dozen tomatoes from the local farmer and slow roast it. I roasted the tomatoes (but didnt sleep well at night with the oven turned on..was afraid il burn the house down with a 12 hour 200 F oven :D) yesterday. i am going to try and make the brown rice dosa and the chutney over the weekend! I am blog rolling you, if you dont mind :)

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  28. The chutney looks yummyy..I have been obsessed with chutneys recently- I hope I'll have time to submit one of them for the Blogging Bites!

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  29. Dale looks like the typical gendarme, keeping an ear on things while pretending to snooze, or visa versa. Thanks for the tomato chutney recipe, I am being deluged by a healthy harvest of tomatoes from the garden.

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  30. First time on your Blog.

    I love that roasted chutney recipe. Can taste a smoky flavor to it. Do you think I can roast the tomatoes on direct fire? I am hoping I can do the chutney recipe without too many challenges, but I can never make perfect dosas. I run out of patience and get a big lump on my tava, instead of a crisp dosa.

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