Bengali Tomato Chutney

Name: Bengali Tomato Chutney
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 16 min
Yield: Serves 4-6
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil; 2 small dried red chillies; 3 pieces of dried mango, roughly chopped (optional, or use 3 dried apricots, prunes or dates); 4 tsp caster sugar, or to taste; 1 tsp black or brown mustard seeds; 2.5 cm (1 inch) fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped; ¼ tsp salt; 300 g fresh tomatoes, halved or quartered

Preparation info

Serves
4-6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
20 min

Appears in

Chilli & Mint

By Torie True

Published 2021

About

This is a very typical Bengali tomato chutney, or achaar as it is known in India. The sweet notes from the added fruit and sugar balance out the savoury chilli, mustard seeds, salt and ginger really well. It’s not meant to be super smooth like my other tomato chutney.

Ingredients

1 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
2 small dried red chillies
1

Asia
India
West Bengal
Side dish
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

Warm the oil in a pan on a medium heat and fry the dried red chillies until they begin to turn black. This will take a few minutes and may make you cough, so pop your extraction fan on!
Add the mustard seeds, fresh ginger, chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar and dried fruit if using. As they warm up, squash the tomatoes with the back of a fork or spoon so they releas