I Say Tomato, You Say Tomato...

Tomato Chutney, that is! Mmmmm!

Here's my recipe from "The Best of Lord Krishna's Cuisine". It's the best!

2 T ghee/vegetable oil/shortening
1-2 dried chiles
1 t cumin seed
1 in piece cinnamon stick
1 1/2 lbs tomato (I usually double the recipe and only end up using maybe 2 1/2 pounds - it's fine)
3 T date sugar/maple sugar (I use regular ole evaporated cane juice)
1/2 t salt

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add the chiles, cumin seed and cinnamon and cook over medium until the cumin seeds are nice and brown. That's right - we don't want any mean cumin seeds. Once the seeds are browned, carefully add the tomatoes, sugar and salt. Cook for about 20 - 25 minutes, stirring regularly. The key to making chutney is to cook everything down until it's almost a paste. There really shouldn't be many distinguishable tomato chunks (I, myself, had to be schooled!).

I'm making Gota and Vegetable Biryani tonight to eat with my chutney! Yes, that is how I do things. My main food is whatever I'm dipping into - salsas, chutneys, hummus, soups....the rest is just filler.