Imli ki meethi chutney (sweet tamarind chutney) is loved by all age groups. Indian chats (snack) are incomplete without chutney – either sweet or savory. Buy samosa or kachori and you will get sweet and savory chutneys along with them.
Bhel puri, Sev puri, Dahi puri, Papdi chaat or Dahi vada; all are incomplete without chutney. At my parents’ house, we never bought any chats. My mother used to prepare everything from the scratch. So, after my marriage, I also continued the same tradition. Preparing savory chutney with coriander or mint leaves is regular in my kitchen. But I always felt a little lazy to prepare imli ki meethi chutney at frequent intervals and so instead I started preparing in enough quantity that it will last for 6 months.
While cooking sweet tamarind chutney you might not be able to figure out exactly how it tastes because flavors really taste better the next day. Therefore, you wait till the next day for the developed taste and if you feel something is less or missing, add accordingly and boil a little bit more.
Ingredients :
120 gm tamarind
3 +1/2 cups water
300 gm sugar/jaggery powder
5 dates
For the rest of the ingredients, I am not giving specific measurements as you can add them according to your taste. You can prepare it as sweet tamarind chutney or it could be tangy tamarind chutney by reducing the sugar a little bit – choice is completely yours!
White salt
Black salt
Ginger powder
Garam masala powder
Red chili powder
Process :
Soak tamarind in 2 cups of water for 2 hours.
In a separate pan soak dates in water.
After 2 hours, mash tamarind and sieve it. Add the rest of the water in tamarind, mash it and sieve it again so that the whole pulp comes out.
Boil this sieved tamarind water and pulp on sim heat by adding de-seeded dates and sugar for at least 1+1/2 to 2 hours. If you are interested in thick consistency, boil for at least 2 hours but if you like thin consistency, boil for 1 to 1+1/2 hours. Just 10 minutes before the chutney is done, add the rest of the ingredients as per your taste.
Let the chutney cool down completely before filling in an airtight container and storing that in the fridge.
