Carrot (Gajar) Chutney

Pleasant looking, light orange tinted, healthy, flavoury chutney! Tempting to try n taste? Don’t wait…just go ahead and make it. Gives cool company to hot steamed rice, crispy dosas, soft idlis and rotis. Spread for sandwich…why not? Carrot, an excellent source of beta-carotene, high on nutrition, low on cholesterol thanks to its fibres, fills your tummy even though you don’t eat too many.

Dish Type:  Side Dish

Preparation Time:  10 min

Cooking time:  10 min

Serves:  4 persons

Ingredients

For boiling/cooking:

Carrot                          2 nos. (medium size)

Tamarind paste           ¼ tsp

Salt to taste                 ½ tsp (approx..)

For dry frying:

Black gram                  2 tsps

Green chillies              2 nos.

For grinding:

(Dry fried) Black gram and green chillies

Raw coconut grated    ½ cup

(Boiled /cooked) grated carrot

For seasoning:

Oil                               1 tsp

Mustard seeds             ½ tsp

Black gram                  ½ tsp

Red chillies                 2 nos.

Curry leaves                ½ sprig

Asafoetida                   A pinch

Directions

Wash carrot, peel the skin and grate it.  Boil the grated carrot along with tamarind paste and salt for about 10 min. Drain out the water and let the vegetable cool. Store this drained nutritious water in a container and resuse some of it later for grinding. Rest of it can be used the same day for making soup, sambar, rasam etc.

While carrot is getting cooked, roast black gram and green chillies in a kadai till black gram turns golden brown.

Grind these coarsely with raw grated coconut and later again with boiled carrot to a coarse consistency. Transfer all of the contents to a bowl. Don’t forget to reuse the drained water at this stage.

For seasoning, heat oil in a small skillet. When oil is heated, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add black gram, broken red chillies and curry leaves. Switch off the burner. Immediately add asafoetida and pour it over the chutney.

Carrot chutney is now ready.

Tete - a - Tete:

Carrot is generally thought of as being orange in colour. But there are purple, red, white and yellow carrots too.

Orange carrot gets its colour from beta carotene, an organic compound. Human body converts this to vitamin A which is needed for healthy skin and mucous membranes, better immunity, healthy eyes and vision.

Tip:

Soak carrot sticks in hot water spiced with red chilly powder, coriander seeds and salt. Let it cool. Drain and serve. A striking change from the conventional salad!

Recipe Contributor:  Smt. Saraswathi