Carrot Chutney

I always seem to have carrots in the refrigerator. You can add it to any curry, sambar, vegetable rice and of course the salad.  But I have never thought of a chutney. Today, however, I had just the carrots and had run out of veggies, and when this post of the carrot chutney popped up on facebook, I checked the link and it led me to Cook,Click and Devour and the dish looked good. I liked the fact that there was no coconut.  We use a lot of coconut at home and I am always on the lookout for coconut-free dishes.  The chutney was simple to prepare and tasted amazing.  A wonderful accompanying side dish for rice, chapatis, dosa or whatever.... it is really good!

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3-4 medium - grated

Bengal gram dal (Chick pea/Channa) - 2 tbsp

Red Chilies - 1-2 

Tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp 

Asafoetida/Hing - A large pinch

Ginger - 1/4"

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Heat the oil in a pan

Add the hing followed by the bengal gram dal

Fry the dal a while. Just as it begins to change a shade of colour and a hint of brown

Add the grated carrot

Toss till the raw taste of carrot disappears

Put it all into a blender

Add salt to taste and the ginger

Blend to a fine paste, with a little water if necessary.

Put the blended chutney into a dish.  

Temper with mustard and curry leaves.  

Try it - it is amazing.

Note - you can substitute the red chilies with green chilies.

Harini of Cook, Click and Devour also adds that you can add onions or fresh grated coconut too.