The Healthy Chutney: Onion Chutney

4 from 3 votes

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During my childhood days, I remember my mother had prepared onion chutney to go along with dosa’s. As we were kids and being used to the routine few chutney’s, we did not like this chutney or rather we did not want to change our perception for this new chutney which had a different taste. Thus, my mother never made this chutney again for us. After marriage, like my mother, my mother in law, too dislikes dishes which have raw onion or even cooked onion. Except for onion pakoras, both them, whom I consider ‘culinary experts’ refrain from even touching the onion dishes. So I too, never tried to make onion chutney in my kitchen. There is a saying in Telugu: Ulli chesina melu, Talli chheyadu (the type of goodness imparted by onions, even a mother does not do so) Last week, I remembered the onion chutney as I did not have any other vegetables in my refrigerator and kitchen, except onions. Initially, I was reluctant but then I shed my inhibitions and went ahead and made this simple chutney (Note: my mother –in-law was not around) One may think that this chutney may emanate the typical onion odor, but no, in fact the final chutney does not taste like onion at all, it tasted more like a mix between peanut and cabbage (indeed amusing) And the chutney turned out so tasty that I landed up eating just the plain chutney! Onions are known as ullipaya or ulli gadda in Telugu, thus this chutney is referred as ‘Ulli pacchadi’ in the Telugu language. Did you know? ‘Onion is the most widely used vegetable in the world’. More than 20 billion (20,000 million) pounds of onion are produced every year!’
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Served AsDinner, Lunch
CuisineIndian
Servings 4
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Ingredients
  

  • Onions medium sized 2
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seed
  • 2 tablespoon split black gram urad dal
  • 1-2 tablespoon tamarind extract based on your preference for tanginess
  • 2-3 dry red chilies
  • ½ teaspoon jaggery
  • 2 teaspoon oil
  • Salt
  • For seasoning 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 sprig of curry leaves
  • ½ teaspoon oil
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Instructions
 

  • Slice onions into medium pieces and keep aside. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, dry red chilies and sauté for a few seconds. Add urad dal, saute and let it turn golden yellow. Transfer this into a small dish and let it cool.
  • In the same pan, add a teaspoon of oil, add the chopped onion pieces and saute well for 4-5 minutes, until the raw odour of onion disappears. Turn off the heat and cool. Grind the urad dal, cumin seeds and red chillis to a coarse powder. Add to this
  • Grind to make a paste. Add a little water (2-3 tablespoons) for a thinner consistency. Do not add more water as it may turn out to be runny.
  • For seasoning, heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the curry leaves and turn off the heat. Pour this seasoning over the chutney. Mix and savor this chutney with idlis or dosa’s.

Notes

Ensure the onion pieces are well fried.

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4 from 3 votes
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Aparna Parinam
Aparna Parinam

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