As a peanut butter addict I just can’t stop myself from trying a recipe that has “peanuts” in its title. “Peanuts chutney” might sound complicated but in 15 minutes of work max you’ll get one of the most addicting, tasty and bizarre things you’ll ever make.
The list of ingredients is quite modest for an Indian dish, but do note that the only ingredients you can omit here are the chilies and the Asafoetida. Everything else is definitely a must in order to achieve the weird and funky magic that happens in this chutney. The chutney is pretty hot, if you don’t like hotness that much (shame!) you can reduce the amount of chili.
The chutney can be served with practically anything. Officially it is served with Idli, Dosa, Roti, Pakora and other Indian goodies but you can really go outside the Indian cuisine box here and serve it with rice, on bread, with pasta (I think the chutney somehow resembles pesto), with chicken/tofu or just eat with a spoon. I really recommend to double the amounts, this chutney vanishes really quickly.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients (for 1 cup of chutney)
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup non-roasted peanuts
- 1/2 medium onion (or 1/4 of a very large onion like in the picture above)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 dried red chili (can be replaced with chili flakes, 1 dry red chili equals 3/4 tsp chili flakes)
- 1 tsp tamarind
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 5-8 curry leaves
- 2 tbs oil
- pinch of asafoetida
Directions
Roast the peanuts on a dry pan (no oil!) until it starts to brown, it will take about 5 minutes. Take the peanuts out of the pan and set aside to cool down. Meanwhile put the onion, garlic, salt, red chili and tamarind in a blender. Peel the cooled down peanuts. No need for it to be perfect, small amount of peanut skin is completely valid here. Add the peeled peanuts to the blender, add some water and grind until it becomes smooth. You can use blender stick but don’t forget to add some water, your blender will thank you.
You can add more water until the consistency is to your liking – there are no clear instructions here and you can have it both thin like a sauce or thick like a spread, totally up to you.
Now heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. Allow it to sizzle for a minute or two, just make sure the mustard seeds don’t burn, they tend to quickly become charred and sad 🙁 Now pour all the pan content including the oil on the peanut mixture and mix will. The chutney is ready!
Serve the chutney with everything, with Indian breads and fries, rice, chicken/tofu, pasta, bread and whatever you feel like eating. I prefer to eat this chutney a little warm and not cold directly out of the fridge, so I recommend putting it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds and mixing before serving.
Comments and suggestions
- Chili. The chutney is spicy and I encourage you not to skip the chili, but it is possible to reduce the amount or replace with chili flakes. If you are really not into spicy food you can completely omit the chili. You’ll get a great chutney.
- Curry leaves can be bought dried in Indian grocery shops. The fresh leaves are better but rare. The dried ones work really well in most dishes so no worries. By the way, curry leaves are unrelated to the “curry spice mix”, which is a western invention completely foreign to Indian food. The “curry spice mix” is some random mix of spices which should supposedly resemble Garam Masala.
- Peanuts. It is definitely intriguing to just buy ready made roasted peanuts but those usually come with tons of salt and it just doesn’t work in this recipe. Buy the non-roasted ones, roast them lightly and peel, it makes all the difference.
In short
Roast the peanuts in a dry pan, cool down and peel. Blend the peanuts together with onion, garlic cloves, salt, dry red chili, tamarind and some water. Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves, mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida, fry for a minute or two. Pour the content of the pan on the peanuts mixture and mix well. Serve the chutney with Indian breads or fries, rice, chicken/tofu, bread, pasta etc.
