‘Imli’ or Tamarind is a super sour flavoring ingredient. This recipe uses a LOT of it and balances that sourness out with some heat from spices and sweetness from dates (or other sweeteners). The overall hit of flavor is definitely sweet and tangy with a bit of heat in there.

No Pakistani/Indian Chaat is complete without imli chutney, oh and neither is the ever-so-popular dahi bhalley (or baray). It can last for months in the fridge and more so in the freezer!

Ingredients/Substitutes

Here are a couple of pointers and notes about the ingredients.

• Tamarind (Imli)-
  This is the main ingredient of the chutney and therefore a must. The most easily available tamarind is in these 3 forms:
  • Tamarind block with seeds
  • Tamarind block without seeds
  • Tamarind Paste
    The paste is a ready-to-use option where no real cooking is needed. While the block tamarind takes a little bit of time to extract the tamarind concentrate. I’ve mentioned how to use both in the recipe
• Sweetener – The sweetness comes from the dates in this recipe. It adds a layer of flavor depth that regular sugar does not. I used organic date syrup available at my local grocery store. But worry not, if you can’t get your hands on that, get date paste instead OR make your paste at home with whole dates. However, dates aren’t compulsory to use in the recipe. Use any sweetener of your liking:
  • Regular white sugar
  • Brown sugar or molasses
  • Coconut sugar
  • Artificial sweeteners like stevia
  • Honey
  • A combination of these sweeteners.
• Salt, spices – The flavoring in this recipe comes from roasted cumin, coriander, and red chilies. Also known as the DAHI BARA spice mix. You can make your own spice mix or buy a boxed dahi bara spice blend at your local Asian grocery store.
• Optional Ingredients – Asafoetida (hing) and dry ginger powder (saunth) are also 2 commonly used ingredients in tamarind chutney. Add a pinch of Asafoetida and 1/2 tsp of ginger powder to add another layer of flavor.

NOTE: Asafoetida has a very strong aroma and taste, so if you’ve never tried it or added it to your food, it’s best to avoid it with this chutney.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

You can skip steps 1- 4 if you are using ready-to-use tamarind paste for this recipe.

STEP 1: Place a colander in a heat-proof bowl and put tamarind blocks inside the colander.

STEP 2: Pour boiling water at least 2 cups or enough to soak the entire block completely. Set aside for 10 minutes.

STEP 3: Use a spoon or fork to break the block of tamarind into little pieces.

STEP 4: Add 1 cup of cold water to reduce the temperature. Now use your hands to squeeze all the chunks of tamarind to release all the tamarind juices from the seeds etc. Pick up the colander and allow all the tamarind juice to strain into the bowl

IMPORTANT: Always test the water temperature first before dipping your hands into it to squeeze out the juices from the tamarind block. You can also repeat step 4 as much as you like if you feel there is more tamarind juice to be extracted, all your water will cook down eventually.

STEP 5: Transfer the liquid into a pot and add all the seasonings.

STEP 6: Boil the tamarind juice at medium flame for 20 minutes.

STEP 7: Allow the liquid to reduce to half of its original volume.

STEP 8: Add date syrup/date paste/ or any sweetener you prefer. Simmer the chutney for 10 minutes at medium-low heat.

STEP 9: Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered.

STEP 10: Your chutney will thicken as it cools down, transfer to airtight jars.

Allow your chutney to cool down and store them in airtight glass jars in the fridge. Go ahead and enjoy it as you like!

Expert Tips

• Always use a glass jar to store condiments.
• Make sure your jar or storage bags are dry before pouring your chutney in it.
• Don’t overcook the chutney to get a thicker consistency. You may end up burning it. Instead, let the chutney air dry while it cools. It’ll thicken up considerably.
• Always use a clean dry spoon whenever using the chutney from the fridge.
• The chutney tends to boil like rice does, so make sure your chutney water only reaches up to 3 quarters of your saucepan and there is enough room for the chutney to rise while it boils.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

Like I said, this imli ki chutney works as a topping sauce or a dipping sauce with a LOT of snacks and mains. Here are some ideas:

• On dahi bara (fried lentil fritters in yogurt)
• With mix chaats like Papri Chaat (mix chickpea, veggies and yogurt)
• Perfect to pair with bbqs like chicken tikka etc
• Use as the sweet chutney for pani puris
• I would totally give this as favor to my non-desi folks to try it out.
• On paratha rolls, sandwiches, or wraps.
• With Indian/Pakistani fried snacks like pakoras, kachori samosas, etc.

Similar Recipes for you to try.

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Sweet Tamarind Chutney

A classic sweet and tangy chutney made with tamarind and dates.

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 3 cups

Calories 287kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1½ cup date syrup see notes for substitutes.
• 1 tsp salt or to taste see notes
• 2 tbsp Dahi bara spice mix Homemade or bought
• 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tsp chat masala powder see notes

Tamarind- Use only ONE of these three options

• 300 gm tamarind pulp block with seeds
• 200 gm tamarind pulp block without seeds
• 100 gm tamarind paste unflavoured

Instructions

Tamarind Chutney using Tamarind blocks

• Place a colander in a heat-proof bowl and put tamarind blocks inside the colander. Now, pour boiling water at least 2 cups or enough to soak the entire block completely. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Use a spoon or fork to break the block of tamarind into little pieces. Add another 1 cup of cold water to bring down the water temperature. Now use your hands to squeeze all the chunks of tamarind to release all the tamarind juices from the seeds etc. Test the water temperature first before dipping your fingers into it. Don't worry about how much water you are using, we'll cook it down eventually.
• Pick up the colander and allow all the tamarind juice to strain into the bowl. Transfer the tamarind juice to a cooking pot. You can repeat the previous step if you think there is more juice to be extracted.
• Add all the seasoning (minus the date syrup) and boil the tamarind juices at medium flame for 20 minutes. Your tamarind juice should be reduced to half its original quantity.
• Now add date syrup, date paste or any other sweetener you prefer. Let the chutney simmer for another 10 minutes at medium-low heat.
• Turn off the heat and do a taste test to check salt, heat and sweetness. Adjust salt according to your liking.
• Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered. It'll thicken a bit more as it cools. Transfer into waterproof jars and store in the fridge.

Tamarind Chutney using tamarind paste

• Add all the ingredients in a cooking pot with 4 cups of water. Boil at medium high flame for 5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and do a taste test to check salt, heat, and sweetness. Adjust salt according to your liking.
• Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered. It'll thicken a bit more as it cools. Transfer into waterproof jars and store in the fridge.

Notes

DATE SYRUP ALTERNATES

1. Make your own date paste at home by soaking 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates in boiling water for 10 mins. Discard the water and blend the dates in a blender to make a paste. 
2. Other sweeteners you can use are Jaggery, brown sugar, and honey. Use 1 cup of any of these sweeteners for the recipe given above. 

Other Notes

• Dahi bara masala is a dry roasted ground spice mix made with whole red chilies, cumin seeds and coriander seeds. For this recipe, use 8 whole red chilies, 1 tbsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds. Dry roast them in pan and grind to make a coarsely ground spice mix.
• Chaat masala is a South Asian finishing spice used to sprinkle on salads, and street food and other recipes. You can easily get this in any South Asian grocery store. IF you don’t have any, you can skip it altogether and just increase the dahi bara spice by 1 tsp.
• Optional Ingredients – Asafoetida (hing) and dry ginger powder (saunth) are also 2 commonly used ingredients in a tamarind chutney. Add a pinch of Asafoetida and 1/2 tsp of ginger powder to add another layer of flavor.
• Store the chutney in an airtight jar in the fridge. It can last for 2 to 3 months. 
• To freeze the chutney, transfer it into a ziplock bag and freeze. Simply thaw on counter when need to use. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 786mg | Potassium: 692mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Sweet Tamarind Chutney (Imli Chutney) appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Growing up, Spinach was one of my nemesis, we just didn’t get along much. Until one fine day, my mom made this beautiful Spinach Raita that I now loooooove and crave. I love pairing this raita with Pulao rice, and now that I am trying to eat healthier, I like to use it as a dip for almost every snack I have.

It’s the easiest, most South Asian thing to add to your menu. Plus not really spicy (unlike our other foods).

How is Palak raita different from regular raita?

So the regular raita that you’ve probably seen served with Biryani or pulao is simply beaten yogurt with a couple of spices and vegetables sometimes. This spinach raita is a little more bougie since it has a layer of “Tarka” or tempered spices that sit on top of it. A tarka consists of several whole spices fried in oil and simply poured onto a dish ready to serve. Several Pakistani yogurt-based recipes use Tarka or “baghaar” to elevate the taste.

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredients for my palak raita are super basic, and you probably have them in your pantry right now.

• Yogurt – Full-fat yogurt is ideal for any raita recipe for its rich taste. But feel free to substitute with low-fat options or even non-dairy options if that’s your thing.
• Spinach – Most leafy spinach varieties can be used here. Just remove the stems if they are too thick. You can also use pre-frozen or blanched spinach for this recipe.
• Oil – I love the flavor of olive oil with this recipe, although any neutral oil or ghee can be used.
• Whole spices – Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and whole dried red chilies. There aren’t any alternatives here, but you can use fresh green chilies instead if you are out of dried ones
• Red chili powder – Use any red chili powder that you have, paprika will work too.
• Garlic – Freshly chopped garlic works here. I’ve found the taste of garlic paste a little bitter for this recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Variations

• Make it Spicy – You can add more red chili powder or Thai green chilies to the Tarka to make your yogurt spicier!
• Add vegetables – Try adding shredded zucchini or eggplant to the spinach to increase the nutritional value of the raita. Or really any other vegetable you like
• Crunch – You can add brown fried onions on top of the raita to add a layer of crunch to it.
• Finishing Spices – Add chat masala or a dash of hot sauce on top of the raita.

How to make Palak raita

The recipe is overall super simple. I’ve put together a pictorial to lay out the easy steps. It requires 3 simple things, beaten yogurt, cooked spinach, and finishing tarka.

STEP 1 – Beat yogurt and water to make a smooth base.

STEP 2 – In a skillet, add spinach and spices with a little oil and saute at medium heat.

STEP 3 – Saute for 2 to 3 mins or until all the water from the spinach has evaporated.

STEP 4 – Add the cooked spinach to your yogurt.

STEP 5- You can mix the spinach in, or leave it in little dollops.

STEP 6 – Prepare Tarka in the skillet by adding garlic, button red chili, cumin, and mustard seeds in oil.

STEP 7 – Fry the spices until the garlic turns golden. Turn off the heat and add red chili powder.

STEP 8 – Immediately pour the Tarka on the yogurt and swirl around a little.

Serve the raita as in along with your mains or nachos. The sizzling sound that you get when the oil hits the yogurt, is what I live for people!! And you are done! It is THAT easy!

Expert Tips

• Make sure to wash your spinach properly with water. The best way is to dunk it in a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then pick up the leaves and you will see all the dirt settle on the bottom of the bowl. Now you can simply rinse the spinach and start chopping
• Remove the stems of the spinach if they are too thick. And remove any wilted parts of the leaves.

What can palak raita be paired with?

• Keema bhara paratha
• Aloo ka paratha
• Use as a dip for pita bread, nachos, or papad.
• Serve alongside roasted chicken like Lahori Chargha or Chicken Sajji

More Recipes like this

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Spinach Yogurt Dip (Palak Raita)

This is a form of yogurt dip made with blanched chopped spinach and spices, topped with tempered spices,and garlic in ghee/oil

Course Dips & Condiments, sauces

Cuisine South Asian

Diet Halal, Low Calorie

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 146kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

FOR YOGURT SAUCE

• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder

FOR TARKA (TEMPERING)

• 6 to 7 tbsp oil or ghee (any that you like)
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds saabit zeera
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds rye dana
• 3 to 4 whole red chilies
• 1/4 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder (or paprika)

Instructions

• In your serving bowl, whisk yogurt with water until smooth.
• In a small skillet, add a tablespoon oil along with spinach, salt, black pepper powder and red chili flakes. Cook spinach in its own water at low to medium heat.
• When the water from the spinach dries, turn off the heat and add the spinach to the yogurt and small dollops. You can mix it in the yogurt or leave it as is.
• In the same skillet, add oil, garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole red chilies and. Fry the spices in the oil at medium heat, till the garlic turns golden.
• Turn off the heat, and add red chilli powder. Let the powder sizzle in the hot oil.
• Pour the hot oil onto the spinach yogurt directly. Stir slightly and serve with rice or paratha.

Notes

• You can add more water to the yogurt if you’d like a thinner consistency. 
• You can use pre-blanched spinach for this recipe too. Just season it with the spices mentioned.
• The yogurt sauce can be eaten directly and tastes best at room temperature.
• This palak raita can be stored in the fridge for about a week. Store in an airtight container. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 681mg | Potassium: 473mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 2829IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 237mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Palak Raita – Spinach Yogurt Dip appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

STEPS TO PUT TOGETHER A CRISPY FISH BURGER

The components of this recipe are as follows.

• Tartar sauce
• Fry sauce or burger sauce
• Fish coating and frying
• Assembling the burger

1st component – Quick Tartar Sauce

The tartar sauce in this recipe gives the fish burger that elevation it needs to make an average burger, LIPSMACKING GOOD.

To put this tartar sauce together, all you need are the ingredients and a food processor.

Process garlic, capers and dill in the processor finely. Then add all the remaining ingredients in the processor. And thats it! Pulse it for a minute and you have your sauce ready!

SUBSTITUTIONS FOR INGREDIENTS IN THE TARTAR SAUCE

• You can use greek yogurt instead of Sour cream. Don’t use regular yogurt, as it has a lot of water. Incase you only have regular yogurt, put it in a cheesecloth to drain its water.
• I personally prefer capers for this tartar sauce. But if you don’t have them, you can use pickles, jalapeno pickles, dil pickles or gherkins.
• IF you are on a clean diet, skip out the mayo and use a little fresh cream instead.

2nd Component – Fry Sauce

Fry sauce also known as burger sauce is a condiment that goes really well with fries and burgers etc. It is super easy to put together and has numerous recipes out there.

I use these ingredients for my fry sauce

• Mayonnaise
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Pickled Jalapenos chopped
• Sundried tomatoes chopped

You can skip sundried tomatoes if you don’t have any. But I’d definitely recommend to have everything else on hand.

Just dump everything in a bowl and whisk with a spoon. Your fry sauce is ready!

3rd Component – Preparing the crispy fried fish

Selecting the fish

For this recipe, ofcourse you need a boneless fish. I used Dori for this recipe, but you can also go ahead and use Cod, Tilapia or any white fish that you have access too. I cut the fish into bun size squares. If I am using frozen fish, I don’t thaw my fish completely. Infact, I add the frozen fish into the marination. Water content isn’t a big problem in this recipe, so you don’t have to worry about patting your fish dry etc.

For coating the fish we need 2 layers, a liquid batter in which the fish will be dipped. And another dry layer of cornflour and flour that forms a nice thick layer on the fish.

The ingredients for the liquid batter are shown above. I dumped all of these in a large bowl and whisked to form a smooth batter. Then I added my fish fillets and coated them completely in the batter. White fish is very delicate so it doesn’t really need a lot of time for marination. 15 mins is more than enough.

After 15 mins, coat the fish into the dry coat of all purpose flour. Make sure you press the dry mix onto the fish properly to make sure the whole fish is covered nicely.

PROTIP: Always lightly dust the tray or plate with flour which you are placing your coated fish in. Also don’t shake off the excess flour from the fish.

How to fry the fish

Once your wish is coated, it is time to fry. Fish is a delicate protein, especially the white fish varieties. The best way to handle such a fish is to deep fry them in hot oil for 5 to 6 mins max. Flip over after 3 mins and take the fish out as soon as you get your golden color. Don’t let the fish sit in the hot oil for too long, it may get hard and over cooked. Of Course the thickness of the fish fillet will affect the cooking time of the fish. MY fillets were roughly 1/2 an inch thick.

You can also bake the fish in the oven if you don’t want to fry it.

4th component – Assembling

Finally! its time to assemble and dig in!

For assembling the burgers these are the layers I added to my crispy fried fish burger

• Toasted buns
• A layer of tartar sauce
• A layer of iceberg lettuce, onions and cucumbers or cabbage too
• A juicy crispy fried fish fillet in the middle
• A slice of cheese (optional)
• More pickles (optional)
• A layer of fry sauce
• Finish it off with bun.

How to keep your burgers warm?

IF you are preparing a big batch of burgers, it’s a good idea to assemble your burgers in advance. Here are a couple of things you can do to serve restaurant level hot fresh burgers.

• Wrap your burgers immediately in foil.
• Preheat your oven at 60 C C and place your wrapped burgers in the oven to keep them warm till you are ready to serve.
• If you’ve fried french fries or wedges etc, place them in a tray in the oven too.
• If you plan to re-heat it in the microwave later, then use a wax paper to wrap the burger instead of foil. Only heat for 30 secs at high.

How long can the burgers stay in the fridge?

Any cooked seafood can safely stay in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. The sauces can stay upto a week in the fridge, if they are kept covered.

Can I freeze the fillets before frying?

Definitely! But the marinate has lemon, vinegar etc which can cook the fish even in the fridge. IF you really want to prepare in advance, I’d say you can freeze the fish for upto a week but shouldn’t do more than that. Don’t thaw your fish, just let it sit in the counter for 10 mins and then fry like you would normally do.

Sides that will go SUPER WELL with these crispy fish burgers

• French fries or steak fries.
• Cole slaw
• Corn on the cobs
• Tartar sauce and fry sauce
• Russian salad
• Potato salad.
• Pasta salad

Other similar recipes that you may like

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Fish burger

A crispy fried fish fillet assembled with veggies and sauces to give a delicious fish burger.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Continental

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 10 burgers

Calories 648kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Fish marinade

• 2 kg any white fish fillets cut into burger size
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp paprika powder
• 2 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Fish dry coat

• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt pr to taste

Tartar sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper crushed or powder
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp dill chopped
• 1 tbsp capers or any pickles
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Fry sauce

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 1 large jalapeno 24gm
• 1 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes optional

Assembly

• 10 burger buns
• Iceberg leaves or any salad leaves
• sliced cucumbers
• Oil for frying
• sliced onions
• any vegetable of your liking

Instructions

Tartar Sauce

• In a chopper, add garlic, lemon juice, dill and capers. Process it till everything is chopped finely.
• Add the remaining ingredients and process again to get a nice tartar sauce. Set aside

Fry Sauce (burger sauce)

• Add all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside

Prepare Fish

• Add all the ingredients for fish marinade in a large bowl and whisk together to form a smooth mix.
• Drop in your fish and make sure they are all fully coated. Let it rest for 15 to 20 mins.
• In another bowl, add in all the ingredients for fish coat and mix together.
• Pick up one piece of fish and drop in the fish coat bowl. Coat the fish piece properly pressing the coating deep into the fish. Flip over multiple times.
• Lightly dust a clean tray with the coating mix. Place the coated fish in a the tray. DO NOT SHAKE OFF excess flour mix.
• Deep fry fish in hot oil at high flame. Fry till fish turns golden brown. About 5 mins.
• You can also bake the fish. Spray a baking tray with oil and place your coated fish on it. Make sure to spray oil on top of the fillets too. Bake at 200 C (400F) on the lowest rack. Flip the fillets over after 7 mins.

Assemble Burgers

• Lightly toast buns if you want.
• Layer fry sauce on the bottom bun.
• Place lettuce , other toppings and a piece of fish on the burger.
• Layer the top half of the bun with tartar sauce and close the burger.
• Wrap the burger with foil or a wrap to keep it warm.
• Serve with fries, both sauces and salad on the side.
  

Notes

Refrigerate the sauces after covering them. You can consume these for a week easily.

Wrap unused fried fish in foil and keep in refrigerator. You can safely refrigerate it for 3 to 4 days

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 648kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 1293mg | Potassium: 780mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 244IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 4mg

The post Crispy fried fish burger with tartar sauce appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It is the PERFECT addition to any lonely rice dish you make, like Matar Pulao, Chicken Malai Pulao or steamed rice with lentils or honestly just any fried snack you can think of, South Asian or otherwise.

About Tomato Chutney

This particular Tomato chutney is known as “Tamatar ka khatta” in Urdu/Hindi, which literally translates to “tang of tomato”. It comes from the Hyderabadi cuisine made by cooking tomatoes in oil and spices. It is closely related to tomato ka kut, which is another Hyderabadi tomato curry recipe, served with eggs on top. Hyderbadis are known for their love of tangy food. Case in point would be the Hyderabadi khatti dal. True Hyderabadis would tell you that they always have a batch of this tomato chutney in their fridge or freezer, and I must say I like that sort of ahead-thinking when it comes to food!

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients.

• Tomatoes – Fresh ripe tomatoes are ideal for this recipe. But, don’t worry, you can also use canned tomatoes.
• Powdered Spices – Salt, red chili flakes, Turmeric, Red chili powder
• Whole Spices – Nigella seeds (Kalonji), cumin seeds (Zeera), mustard seeds (Rye), whole red chilies (Saabit laal mirch), curry leaves. You may not have all the ingredients in your pantry, and thats fine, you can skip them if you don’t have them all but I would highly recommend not skipping the curry leaves.
• Spice base – You need garlic and onions to get the “base” started. You can skip the onions if you don’t like them for xyz reasons.
• Oil – Any regular cooking oil, ghee or butter would do.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

How to make the chutney

This is a very straightforward and quick recipe. Here’s a quick pictorial to guide you through the steps.

Step 1: In a deep skillet or pan, add oil. Then add whole spices, garlic, onions and curry leaves.

Step 2: Sauté onions and garlic at medium to low heat until golden.

Step 3: Add powdered spices.

Step 4: Cook for 1 minute to allow the spices to infuse the oil.

Step 5: Add crushed tomatoes into the pan and cover with a lid for 15 minutes. Let it simmer at low flame until the oil separates from the side and the moisture from the tomato evaporates.

Step 6: When you see the oil separation, add some extra water to bring the chutney together and cook at high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Cool the chutney down before serving.

This chutney is generally served at room temperature so you don’t need to reheat it if you’ve made it earlier in the day. If you are having it on the next day, simply bring it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 10 – 15 mins. No need to reheat it.

Expert Tips

• Fry onions and garlic at low heat to prevent them from turning brown. We need to stop cooking when they turn golden. You can add a splash of water to prevent further cooking while you add your spices.
• Always add powdered spices BEFORE adding tomatoes. This allows the raw spices to be tempered in oil and be activated.
• Never store your cooked chutneys in plastic tupperware. It WILL stain your plastic yellow or even corrode it from the inside if its cheap plastic. Always store chutneys in glass, ceramic or steel containers.

Pairing Tomato Chutney

This tangy “tamatar ki chutney” is popularly eaten with rice dishes that are non-spicy on their own like Pulav rice and steamed rice. Rarely also eaten with roti, parathas and kebabs. Here are a couple of things this chutney is normally eaten with:

• Steamed rice and lentils
• Pulav rice, like the Malai boti pulao
• Zeera pulav, kebab and salad (as shown in picture)
• Served as a condiment for dinners and get togethers.
• Used as a dipping sauces for spicy chicken samosas or chicken nuggets

Frequently Asked Questions

More recipes like this

Here are more chutneys and vegetarian recipes for you:

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Hyderabadi Tomato ka khatta

Tangy tomato chutney, cooked with mild spices, originating from Hyderabadi Cuisine and eaten with pulavs and rice. Known as "tamatar ka khatta" in Urdu/Hindi

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups of chutney

Calories 500kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh tomatoes or canned
• 1½ teaspoon table Salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Crushed red chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chili powder
• 1 medium onion chopped 60 gm
• 6 big cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup vegatable oil

Whole spices

• 1/2 teaspoon Nigella seeds Kalonji
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds Zeera
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds Rye
• 4 whole red chilies Saabit laal mirch
• 8 to 10 curry leaves

Instructions

• Add onion and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Remove and set aside.
• Add tomatoes in the food processor and process till it becomes finely chopped (salsa consistency). DO NOT ADD WATER.
• In a saucepan or small pot, add oil and place on the stove at medium heat.
• Add the chopped onion and garlic, along with all the whole spices. Saute till the onions and garlic become slightly golden.
• Reduce the heat to low, and add all the remaining spices and salt, saute for 1 to 2 mins.
• Now put all chopped tomatoes in the pot and increase the flame back to medium high. Once you see the tomatoes have heated up, put the lid on and let the tomatoes cook for 10 to 15 mins.
• Once all the water from the tomatoes has evaporated, cook for another 5 mins until you see oil seperate on the sides.
• Now add 1 cup water and cook for another 5 mins at medium to high flame or until you start seeing oil seperation again on the sides.
• Serve warm or room temperature with rice or dishes of your choice.

Notes

1. The chutney or Khatta can safely be consumed for 1 month to 45 days after it has been made, if refrigerated.
2. You can also freeze the chutney for upto 4 months.
3. Save the chutney in an airtight container in the fridge and simply leave outside to come down to room temperature before serving
4. This chutney is served at room temperature so it doesn't need heating up prior to being served.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 500kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 78g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 68g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1273mg | Fiber: 18g | Sugar: 40g

The post Tomato Chutney – Hyderabadi style appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Where to use Schezwan Sauce?

• Sichuan sauce is usually used in Sichuan Cuisine and lots of Indo-Chinese recipes like Schezwan Chicken.
• You can mix it with regular ketchup to get chili garlic ketchup (which is very popular back in Pakistan)
• You can mix it with Mayo to give you a nice dip.
• Use it for chicken and fish marinations.
• Add a tablespoon of Schezwan sauce onto your pasta sauce to add a bold flavor.
• You can use it directly as a spicy condiment with dumplings or pakoras.

The characteristic feature of Sichuan sauce are the Sichuan peppercorns. They are small and red in color and I usually use about 8 to 10 of them in this sauce. But I didn’t have any at hand when I made this batch. So I skipped it. It has a nice tongue tickling sensation which sets is apart. So I would definitely recommend you to get some. But like you can see, you can still make a kickass Schezwan sauce without it

Making the Schezwan Sauce

Essentially Schezwan sauce is just garlic, oil and chilies. And I believe that’s how it should be. Adding too many extra sauces and spices balances out the sauce and its unique tangy spicy flavor. It is after all a condiment, and condiments aren’t balanced, they are supposed to be loud and bold so that when used in recipes they can add that effect to our dish.

Step 1: Chili Selection

You can use whole round chilies or the dried long ones. Both will give you similar result. The other concern while selecting chilies, are its seeds.

If you want a smooth sauce, you can remove the seeds from the chilies. I personally don’t mind the seeds, and in fact, I think it brings character to the sauce. But the seeds also add to the spiciness of the sauce. You CAN remove the seeds if you want to reduce the overall heat of the sauce.

Step 2: Making the chili paste

Soak the selected red chilies in hot boiling water and cover them. Let them soak until the water comes down to room temperature.

Discard the water and blend the chilies in a food processor with a little bit of water to give you a smooth paste with seed bits in it.

DISCLAIMER: Please! I beg you! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT touch your eyes or face during this process. 🙁 Don’t ask.

Step 3: Making the sauce.

To make the sauce, put oil in a pan or a wok. You can use Chili oil too if you want to boost the chili flavor.

So Schezwan sauce, in general, has a lot of garlic in it. I’ve added 1 whole garlic pod for this recipe. They are finely chopped.

Tip: When you finely chop the garlic, make sure they are as even as possible, so that they brown evenly.

Wait until all the garlic turns a nice golden brown color. Then add your chili paste in.

Cook it with a little bit of water to get the rawness out of the chilies. Add a little bit of salt for seasoning. I’ve also added a little bit of brown sugar and vinegar in the mix to act as preservatives.

Cook for 2 to 3 mins and turn off the flame. Cover the sauce and let it cool down. Once it cools down, you can fill it up in an airtight jar and refrigerate.

How long can it last?

The sauce has a couple of preservatives in it. So if kept at a stable temperature in the fridge, it can survive for 2 to 3 months. If you freeze the sauce, it can survive indefinitely.

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Shezwan Sauce

An Indo-Chinese spicy dried red chili condiment.

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 397kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole dried red chilies
• 1 whole garlic pod peeled and all the cloves finely chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup

Instructions

• Soak whole red chilies in boiling hot water. Let it sit till the water comes down to room temperature.
• Grind the red chilies in food process to make a paste. (with roughly 3/4 cup of water)
• In a pan, add oil and chopped garlic at medium flame.
• When the garlic turns golden brown, add the chili paste and water.
• Add all the other ingredients and let it cook for 2 to 3 mins.
• Turn of the flame and fill it up in a jar.
• Use in recipes as a condiment or as marinades.

Notes

This condiment is too spicy to be used as a dip on its own. You can mix it with mayo or ketchup to create spicy dips.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 25g | Sodium: 2000mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 26g

The post Schezwan Sauce appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Just like garlic ginger paste, crispy fried onions is one of the basis of all South Asian cooking and if you nail it, you pretty much have MASTERED one of the CORE ingredients in almost ALL Indian/Pakistani curries.

So getting these beautiful crispy onions is honestly just a few tips and tricks away. But behold...since it is something we struggle with, the internet has come up with WEIRD and absolutely useless tips and tricks as well. I’ll mention some really popular myths below as well so that you know what to stay away from as well.

Where are fried onions used?

Fried onions are a staple in South Asian cooking. Here’s where they are used

• Used in gravies and curries like Chicken ka saalan
• They are used for layering and adding flavor. like in Biryanis and Pulaos
• Also used as garnishing or toppings on dals, and haleems.
• They are also used in certain kebab marinations and dam keema etc.

Different levels of fried onions.

A glimpse of what topics this post covers

• Choosing the right onions
• Peeling onions
• Cutting the onions
• Selecting the pot
• Selecting the oil
• How much oil to use
• Reaching the right color
• Letting the onions cool down
• Serving Size
• Storing fried onions
• What to do with left-over oil

Here’s are a few key things to know about frying onions.

Choosing the right onions

There are 6 kinds of onions:

• Red onion
• white onions,
• yellow onions,
• sweet onions,
• shallots and
• Scallions / Green onions
  
  The internet will tell you that the ideal onions for frying are the sweet onions. And it won’t be completely wrong. They do have a uniform color through out and the perfect amount of natural sugars that fry up to give you a uniform golden brown color. But they don’t have thin layers, which when sliced, will not give you nice thin slivers. Thin layers are important for that crispy frying. You can use any, white onion, red onion, or sweet onion, as long as they have thin layers. And you will great results! Where I live, red onions are the ones with the thinnest layers so I pick those.

Peeling Onions

Keep dipping your peeled onions in a pot or bowl of cold water. Helps with the tears (more on that below)

Cutting the onions

The onions are peeled, halved vertically and their roots are removed. And then cut into long thin slices. This is also known as the “biryani cut” onions. Obviously this is a tedious task to do by hand and when done in bulk can feel like a truckload of work. You can use the slicer option in your food processor to slice your onions the easy way. You can also use a manual mandoline slicer to do the deed as well. Of course the food processor is quicker, but a mandoline is also twice as fast as manual slicing.

How to avoid crying while cutting the onions

So, so far with all the methods I’ve tried, all I can say is, crying a li’l is inevitable (yeah you hate me I know). Maybe do it in a well ventilated area or near a candle so the gases don’t effect you as much? But here’s a good read on how to avoid crying if you wanna check it out.

Selecting the pot

So it all comes down to size and area. Imagine frying french fries. Your fries are going to get clumpy and soggy if you toss them in a small space. The same rule applies while frying onions. So opt for a wider shallow utensil with a thick base. Give your sliced onions room to crisp up individually. 

Ideal pot:
Thick base, wide and can withstand high temperatures.

Selecting the oil

When frying onions, or any other thing for that matter, you want to make sure that your oil has a neutral flavor and a high smoke point. The temperatures can go up to 190 C while frying onions and you want to use an oil that can stay stable for that long. Basic vegetable oil like sunflower oil and canola oil can easily stay stable at those temperatures. If you are on a keto diet or are trying to live a healthier lifestyle, coconut oil is also a good option for frying as it can stay stable up to 180 C. As an alternative, you can also use ghee.

Important: Always use fresh oil when you want the perfectly nice brown onions. Oil that has been used once to fry before is going to take double or triple time to brown onions and you will end up with onions that have soaked up a LOT of oil!

How much quantity of oil to use

When frying onions for one time use, you can get away with using very little oil and stirring constantly to get a good color. But for a large batch, you will definitely need to use oil enough for deep frying. So adding a truck load of oil in the onions seems like OMG this is soooooo frikking unhealthy. But trust me when I say this. If you fry your onions right, your onions will NOTTT absorb a lot of oil. You can even measure the amount of oil you put in the pan before frying and how much oil is left AFTER frying.

While growing up I kept hearing this very popular TOTKA (aka tip) that adding onions in cold oil makes it crispier. This, of ALL THE hacks out there, is the only one that LEGIT works. All it does is absorb more oil. Always add onions to oil that has already started to heat up. Doesn’t need to be boiling hot, just warmed up. And keep frying your onions at high heat. 

TIP: Add onions and oil together in a pot first and then putting them on a flame to fry for crispy onions

You can easily eyeball the amount of oil you want to add. Toss in your onions in the pot you are going to fry them in. And THEN add oil to it till it comes up to the level of the onions roughly.

TIP: Don’t I repeat DON’t Add stuff to your oil

Lots of internet groups and articles suggest to add baking soda or salt or sugar to your oil in hopes of achieving a uniform brown color. PLEASE do NOT commit this heinous crime! Not only will these ingredients make your onions absorb MORE oil, but it will also alter the natural sweet taste of the fried onions, and eventually might also effect the dish you are preparing your fried onions for.

TIP: Use a slotted stainless steel spoon or skimmer for stirring through the onions. Try not to stir too much, just occasionally a stir here and there, making sure all the onions are getting evenly fried.

Reaching the right color

When you keep your pot with onions and oils onto the stove, turn on the flame directly at a high. You will begin to notice the changes that the onions will go through during its frying journey.

(TIMINGS FOR BULK FRYING)

5 to 10 min mark – The oil will get hot and the onions will start releasing water of their own. (Stir from sides once in 5 mins)

15 min mark– The onions will start to dehydrate at the water evaporates and will start to shrink in size. (Stir once or twice to check even browning)

20 min mark – The onions will turn very light gold and have now officially started to crisp up. (stir once or twice and now stay close)

25 min mark – Onions have started to crisp up. Some thinner ones are golden already. Reduce the flame to medium and stir constantly. Start removing onions that have turned golden.

Between 25 to 30 min – This is a critical time. When you see your onions are just ABOUT to reach the perfect color, reduce the flame to low and start removing them with the skimmer. The oil is hot and the onions will turn a shade darker after getting removed as well. If you wait till you reach the right color and THEN start removing onions, the last batch you remove will be burnt.

Letting the onions cool down.

You should have a large tray or plate lined with paper towel ready on the side when you start frying the onions. Remove all your fried onions from the oil and place them directly on top of these paper towels. Make sure they are spread out evenly. Allow the onions to cool down. Its important for the onions to cool down in as much space as possible, in order to crisp up properly. You can press the onions together once they cool down, and you’ll hear a gentle crisp. Which will say, all of your effort, was well WORTH IT!

Serving Size

1 medium onion is equal to 1/2 cup of fried onions and 1/4 cup of crushed fried onions.

Storing the onions

The best part about all of this hard work is that you can savor it! You can batch fry lots of onions in one go and freeze them! They are totally freeezer friendly and can last indefinitely! (I’ve always used them within 4 months, but I don’t see a reason why they won’t last longer than that) Once the onions cool down, bag them up in a ziplock bag and keep it in the freezer. If you want to use them in the coming days, they can even stay outside in a jar for a week.

What to do with the left over oil?

I usually fry my onions when I have a fresh bottle of cooking oil, and a big batch of onions, i.e. when I have freshly done my groceries. Let the remaining oil cool down and use a funnel to transfer it back to the bottle you had used it from. This oil has a nice sweet oniony flavor to it and can be used basically for everything savory. Of course not for sweets, and definitely not for more deep frying.

Bonus: If you are using pre-fried onions in your curry etc, you can make those with about 1 tbsp of oil, because all the oil that goes in a gravy is usually to fry the onions. And if that’s already done, you don’t need anymore!

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How to fry onions

A batch of perfectly fried brown onions to use in all Pakistani Indian Recipes

Course Dips & Condiments, FRIED FOOD

Cuisine Continental, South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 1 pack

Calories 400kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 kg onions
• Oil for frying

Instructions

• Peel the onions and remove the root.
• Cut the onions from the center vertically, and slice the halves thinly in vertical cuts
• Add sliced onions in a wide pot and add oil till it comes at the level of the onions. Eye ball the quantity.
• Increase heat to high flame and fry the onions until golden brown.
• Keep stirring the onions every 5 mins to check its getting cooked evenly.
• Use a slotted stainless steel spoon to stir the onions.
• The onions will release water over time and then will start to fry.
• At about 20 min mark your onions will start to look very slightly brown. Reduce the flame to medium at this point and don’t leave the onions un-attended anymore.
• Stir constantly to make sure all the onions turn evenly golden.
• When the onions turn light gold, reduce the flame to low and start removing the onions from the oil slowly.
• Spread the onions on a tray covered with paper towel. And try not to crowd them.
• Allow the onions to cool down and you will have crispy golden onions.
• Use directly in recipes or make a pack in save it in the freezer.

Notes

for more detailed information, read the entire post with tips, tricks and onion selection

if you use these pre-fried onions in your gravies, you can make them with a tbsp of oil.

Nutrition

Serving: 1batch | Calories: 400kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 1460mg | Fiber: 17g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 74mg | Calcium: 230mg | Iron: 2mg

The post How to make crispy fried onions and store them appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Achar (or Pakistani/Indian pickles) are a spicier version of a regular pickle (basically like most Indian foods). It’s a spicy condiment that we loveeeeee pairing with rice and lentils or a good vegetable flatbread (paratha)! yums! And this Gajar ka achar is soo soo good!

My nani (grandma) used to make the long fermented version which takes a couple of days to make. And I mean I don’t check up on the plants in my house that often, how am I supposed to remember checking up on this? Entered a 20 min version. You will need a stove top, a glass jar, carrots and spices. That’s it! let’s begin!

A QUICK PICTORIAL GUIDE TO MAKING PICKLED CARROTS OR GAJAR KA ACHAR

So Pakistani/Indian pickles are mostly made using mustard oil. It enhances the flavor of all the spices and works really well as a preservative.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mustard oil is very bitter in taste if used directly. So to reduce the bitterness, we preheat the oil before use. We heat it in the pan for 3 to 4 mins and leave it to cool down. Then this oil becomes ready to use.

Since mustard oil requires preheating, I usually start with this step and then move on to cutting my carrots.

This achar is usually made in winters when really nice red sweet carrots are in season back in Pakistan. (Also why you will see me posting a lot of gajar ka halwa in winters on instagram).

I fortunately had access to these Pakistani carrots which taste amazingggggg! Regardless, I’ve made this recipe with regular carrots as well and it turns out just as great.

A little tip here. I cut the carrots up into a thin slender french fry cut. But I also removed the central yellowish portion of the carrot. This part of the carrot is usually tasteless. You can keep this if you like. I usually just use the discard portion for my salads.

Let’s start cooking the Achar. In the wok/pan which has the Mustard oil, add your curry leaves, cumin seeds, black and yellow mustard seeds, fennel seeds and chopped garlic along with whole red chilies. I know it sounds like a lot of ingredients, but you probably already have a lot of them in your pantry. We are going to fry this till the garlic gets to a nice golden color.

Once we reach the nice golden color, we are going to chuck in all our carrots and powdered spices like salt, turmeric and red chili powder and flakes.

Can you imagine this was that easy? Go ahead and stir around those carrots in the wok with the spices. Cook it for a good 5 mins, for the spices to coat the carrots and the carrots to soften up.

Then add green chilies and cook for another 5 mins.

After 10 mins, we will turn of the flame and squeeze some lemon juice all over our carrots and cover them up.

The lemon acts as a preservative for the pickle and also adds that characteristic tart flavor that pickles have.

Once the carrots have cooled down, I am going to transfer them into an airtight glass jar and keep it in the fridge.

Serve with lentils and rice, or aloo ka paratha, yumm!!

How long does the achar last for?

It can last indefinitely in the fridge but to give you a date, it can last for up to 3 months in the fridge. I am not very confident of leaving this outside as the oil quantity for this achar is quite low compared to regular achars.

Substitutes

• You can use regular oil instead of mustard oil
• You can use 2 tbsp tamarind pulp instead of lemon but you will have to add it with the carrots so that it cooks as well

RECIPE FOR GAJAR KA ACHAR – PICKLED CARROTS RECIPE

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Quick Pickled Carrots recipe – Gajar ka Achar

A tart condiment made with Sliced carrot pickled in Pakistani/ Indian spice infused oil without using vinegar

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups of pickle

Calories 468kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg carrots 7 to 8 medium sized carrots
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds zeera
• 1/4 tsp yellow Mustard seeds methi dana
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds rye dana
• 1/2 tsp Nigella seeds kalonji
• 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds saunf
• 1/2 tsp of red chili flakes kooti wi laal mirch
• 1 tsp of red chili powder pisi wi lal mirch
• 6 whole round red chilies sabit lal mirch
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder haldi
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 to 10 Curry leaves karri patta
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 3 Green chilies
• 1/4 cup mustard oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or Juice of 2 small lemons

Instructions

• Heat mustard oil in a pan and then let it cool down.* (see notes)
• Slice your carrots into thin strips and remove central yellow part of the carrot**
• Once the oil has cooled down, now heat it up again at medium flame. Add in all the whole spices, curry leaves and seeds along with the chopped garlic. Allow the spices to temper in oil.
• Once the garlic turns golden brown, add in the carrots, salt, red chili flakes and powder and turmeric and green chilies. Let the carrots cook at medium flame for 10 mins.
• Turn off the flame and add lemon juice. Cover the carrots and let it cool down to room temperature.
• Store in an airtight glass jar in the fridge.
• If you plan to leave it out, you have to shake the contents of the jar every other day.

Notes

*Heating oil and cooling down before is important to remove its bitter taste.

**The central yellow part of the carrot is usually tasteless and for the quick pickle version, it’s best to remove this. But you can leave this if you don’t want to bother slicing it away

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 468kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Sodium: 3298mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 42g

The post Gajar ka achar – Spicy Pickled Carrots Recipe appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Dahi bara / dahi vada / dahi bhalla are a popular Indian Pakistani snack made of fried lentils dipped in yogurt. The dahi bara masala mix is popularly used to top off this particular recipe for a long time, but it has since then been used for many different purposes. So I am going to show you how you can easily make this spice mix at home in about 15 mins. Bonus: Another spice mix with the same ingredients.

I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I promiseee it won’t take you more than 15 mins and the payout is going to be amazing!

We are going to use the same three spices to create 2 types of spice mixes, one is the roasted one which is the Dahi bara masala and the other one is Kaccha masala.

Where can Kaccha masala be used?

• Kachcha masala is used in lots of Pakistani style cooking areas. Since it is a raw masala, it is never used for garnish or directly, it is always used in the earlier stages of cooking.
• It is a part of chapli kebab masala
• It can be used for marinating chicken and beef etc.
• Can also be used for marinating veggies before roasting. e.g. roasted potatoes and carrots
• Try adding this to your chicken karhayi next time and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Where can you use Dahi bara masala (Dahi bhalla/Dahi vada)?

• Obviously on top of dahi bareys to begin with
• Use it as a substitute for Chaat Masala
• Its also very commonly used on mix chickpea chaats
• I sprinkle it on top of my Spicy potatoes
• You can add it to your raitas as well (yogurt sauce)
• You can sprinkle it on any time of roasted chicken or beef to make it extra spicy

What do you need to make Dahi bara masala and Kachcha Masala

So both the masalas have the exact same ingredients and the exact same ratios as well. The only difference is that Kachcha masala is raw and Dahi bara masala is roasted, that’s literally about it!

Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds and whole red chilies is all you need to make these spice mixes.

For the kaccha masala you grind everything together in a food processor and put it in a jar. It’s going to be slightly lighter in color than the dahi bara masala.

Remember, this is raw spice so it can only be used in places where cooking is still left. for e.g curries and marinades etc.

Dahi Bara Masala

Toss the same ingredients in a pan. At low flame roast these spices for 8 to 10 mins, stirring occasionally. When the color of the coriander seeds starts to turn brown, turn off the heat and allow the spices to cool down. Once cooled, grind it in a food processor! And you have your dahi bara masala! told you! 10 mins

Disclaimer: Just don’t rub your eyes after handling the spices, before washing your hands thoroughly. Don’t ask!

Store in a Jar and use wherever you like. Since this is a cooked version of the spice mix, you can use it as is, for on-top seasonings, sprinkling on your omelette etc.

How to store your masalas for longer shelf life

Both these spices can last indefinitely if kept in the right conditions.

• Keep in room temperature away from direct sunlight or extreme heat (like not right next to the stove)
• Use a glass jar to preserve your spices. Glass is inert and will not react with your spices, keeping them tasting fresh.
• Use a jar with an airtight lid to prevent any moisture seeping into the spice mixes (moisture can lead to fungus etc)
• If you are not going to use your spice mix regularly, put it in a zip lock bag and dump it in the freezer.
• Assign a spoon for the spice mix which can stay inside the spice jar or use a dry spoon every time you use the spice.
• These facts apply to practically every spice that you have at home.

Click here to browse through other
spice mixes and condiment recipes on the blog.

Dahi Bara Masala and Kaccha Masala Recipe

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Dahi bara masala & Kaccha Masala

Two popular Indian/Pakistani spice mixes made from red chilies, cumin and coriander seeds.

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 12 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 200kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Cumin seeds zeera
• 1 cup coriander seeds saabit dhaniya
• 1 1/2 cup whole round dried red chilies saabit laal mirch

Instructions

• FOR KACCHA MASALA (RAW 3 SPICE MIX)
• Simply put everything in a food processor to get a coarse spice mix. Save in an airtight jar.
• You can use this spice mix for marination and curries etc.
• FOR DAHI BARA MASALA (ROASTED 3 SPICE MIX)
• In a pan, add all the ingredients and roast them at low heat. Stir the contents of the pans occasionally to make sure all the seeds get evenly heated for about 6 to 7 mins.
• When the color of the coriander seeds change from mustard to a golden brown color, turn off the heat and allow the spices to cool down.
• Once cooled, use a food processor to grind the spices into a coarse spice mix. Preserve in an airtight jar.
• This is a roasted spice version so it can also be used for directly sprinkling on top of food and is most commonly used with dahi bareys
  

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 200kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 21g | Sodium: 122mg | Fiber: 42g | Sugar: 9g

The post Dahi bara masala and Kaccha Masala appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

If you are brown person, or…just generally a person, you already know and love Chinese food.  I mean, I have had my share of disagreements with Burgers and Pizzas, but I have yet to meet a soul who doesn’t like Chinese food! (And..if you are here…I am assuming you aren’t that soul either)

So, Chili oil is an aromatic, spicy, staple when it comes to Chinese/Sichuan cooking. Its a condiment made with chili peppers and of course, oil. It adds that really bold flavor to Asian food. If you are familiar with Indo-Chinese cuisines, then you know this oil is a must in your house! 

Click here if you wanna gather some more intel about this awesome oil.

But Chinese cuisines isn’t the only place this oil comes in handy. In fact, this oil makes a lot of appearances in many of recipes and foods. It just adds that character to otherwise seemingly boring food. One of the popular recipes on the blog, called Dragon Chicken, is also made with chili oil.

Where can you use Chili oil?

If you are new to cooking, or new to Chinese style of cooking, fear not, here’s a list of ways you can introduce Chili oil to your cooking:

• Let’s start with the obvious shall we? Use it in Chinese and Indo-Chinese Cuisine
• Add a tsp of chili oil to Marination of all kinds
• Use it as an oil rub for baking fries or veggies.
• Just drop spoonfuls on top of eggs
• Drizzle it over your regular salads and bring some heat to it.
• Add it to your pastas
• Use it to make these Saucy Meatballs
• Use the oil  while making dips for nachos!
• Blend a little chili oil while making hummus and make a kick-ass hummus dip
• And last but not the least, use as the basic oil for regular curries too!

It’s literally a 10 minutes recipe guys! Once you’ve made this oil, it is definitely going on your shelf of permanent condiments! 

3 INGREDIENT CHILI OIL 

Here are the only 3 things you’ll need to prep this condiment. 

HOW TO PREPARE THE OIL

Heat Oil in a wok/pan at high flame, like you would do for deep frying. Once the oil is all heated up, turn the flame off. 

Now stir the oil a little bit and then we are going to let the oil cool down. Once it comes to room temperature, cover it and let it sit overnight to get a really nice chili infusion situation going on. 

Some recipes and chefs prefer leaving the chili bits in the oil for as long as they store it. I personally prefer the clear oil because I don’t add the emulsion of peppers in my cooking. It’s totally up to you to strain and store, or store the oil as it is.

Now that you have your jar of liquid heat ready, you are ready to conquer Chinese cuisines! Or just use it in the ways mentioned above! Here’s a kick-ass Dragon chicken recipe that you make using Chili oil!  

Or you could improvise, and use this oil to make these awesome pasta recipes.

More Pan Asian Recipes

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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How to make chili oil

A simple way to make chili oil at home, which is an essential in many Chinese cuisines

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cup

Calories 2003kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 cup oil any oil that you use for cooking
• 1 tbsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp crushed red chili flakes

Instructions

• Add oil to wok or pan and heat it for 3 to 4 minutes at high flame
• When you see your oil is hot enough to deep fry food, turn off the flame and add red chili power and chili flakes.
• Give the oil a good stir and let it cool down to room temperature.
• Cover the oil once it cools down and let it sit overnight.
• The next day, transfer the oil into a glass jar using a strainer to filter out the chili flakes and powder.
• Store and use when needed

Notes

The shelf life of this oil is long. Store it in a glass jar with an airtight lid, and it can last for over a year.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 2003kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 225g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 64g | Monounsaturated Fat: 142g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2372IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

The post How to make chili oil appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

We loveeeeee pairing mint chutneys with samosas, chaat and pakoras and yummy pulaos. You could also try it with this chicken and veggie kebabs. Or if you were feeling adventurous, bring a little heat with this chutney to the Mac n cheese balls I made earlier this year. We even mix this chutney with yoghurt to get the iconic “green raita” that is an absolute MUST to have with Biryanis or paratha rolls.

As easy as it is to make this chutney, the only problem that people usually face with mint chutney, is its color change after a while. See the mint chutney tends to get oxidize and turn brownish in color. Although, it doesn’t mean that the chutney has spoilt or anything, but it doesn’t look that appealing as it does with its vibrant green color.

So today I thought I’d do a little tricks and tips post for this pet favourite dip, and obviously give you my own recipe of this minty goodness.

6 TIPS & WAYS TO MAKE YOUR MINT CHUTNEY LAST LONGER

Usual chutneys last for a week without losing their color, but if you take the following precautions, you can make your chutney last for 3 weeks without any color or durability issues!

USING INGREDIENTS AS PRESERVATIVES

Oil and vinegar are the main components that I like to add to my chutney to increase its shelf life. Olive oil is an excellent anti-oxidizing agent, so it prevents the color change of the chutney and prevent the ingredients from getting oxidized. The vinegar has an acidic quality which reduces the pH of the chutney and prevents bacteria from growing.

A NO BRAINER – FRESH LEAVES 

Although this goes without saying, but make sure the mint leaves and coriander leaves you are adding are fresh. Sometimes we don’t notice the few rotten leaves among a pile of fresh ones. Not only do they reduce the durability of our sauce but may also make our chutney taste bitter. Also, remember to wash your mint and coriander leaves with ice cold water to preserve their freshness.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOUR ELEMENT

There are couple of different ways to add the sourness to the mint chutney:

1. Tamarind sauce
2. Lemon Juice
3. Vinegar

Although conventionally, tamarind sauce was the source of sourness in mint chutneys, it almost immediately turns the mint chutney brown. Lemon and vinegar on the other hand are both acidic and preservatives of sorts. So ideally a combination of both lemon and vinegar is best for that long lasting greenness of the chutney.

HOLD ON THE WATER

Keep the use of water to a minimum. No matter what recipe you follow, try to aim for a thicker chutney than a watery one. You can always dilute your chutney later while serving. The less water you use, the better it is for your chutney. Your chutney already has a bit of salt in it, which means it will turn slightly watery while refrigerated. Adding too much water while grinding the chutney makes it very diluted.

GLASS JARS OVER PLASTIC

Now glass jars don’t necessarily do anything active for your chutney, but they have shown to prevent odors from the fridge to seeping into food. And also, there is a chance your plastic container might get stained green if it isn’t of high quality.

FREEZER IS YOUR FRIEND

If you are going to make a big batch of mint chutney and you think it’s going to be a while when you will go through the whole batch, its always better to freeze half of it right away rather than refrigerate your chutney. I personally always divide my chutney batches into two and store half of it in the freezer and the other half in the fridge for use in the near future. If you are using the following mint chutney recipe, then you will get around 1 and 1/2 cup of chutney which usually isn’t that much to be frozen.

I hope you found the tips helpful. Do you have some other tips up your sleeve? I’d love to know more! Leave a comment below and let me know. And in the meantime, why don’t we move on to our Mint Chutney Recipe

EASY MINT CHUTNEY RECIPE

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Mint Chutney

This is a spicy indian/pakistani sauce, made with mint and coriander that is paired with fried food and to lots of traditional southasian food.

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine Asian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 bowl

Calories 200kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 6 green chilies
• 1 bunch mint leaves plucked from steam and washed
• 1 bunch bunch coriander leaves washed washed
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 3 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water

Instructions

• Blend everything together in the blender by adding water slowly.
• You can taste the chutney and decide if you want to make minor adjustments.
• Store in an airtight jar and keep refrigerated.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 200kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 0.5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Sodium: 1150mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 712IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg

EASY MINT CHUTNEY RECIPE – Back to the tips

The post EASY MINT CHUTNEY RECIPE & HOW TO PRESERVE IT appeared first on Butter Over Bae.