Samosas and Chutney

Yesterday and today have been beautiful days. the sun has been shinning, the birds are singing and I bought two glasses reserved only for pina coladas. All is right in the world. In all seriousness though, it has been lovely out. I am finally airing out my apartment, I cleaned windows, and I cleaned my car. My skin is loving this weather too, it's not bundled up in leggings or tights and long sleeve shirts. I also bought two new pairs of flip flops yesterday :)

The husband went out and bought samosas because he wants to make a homemade chutney sauce. I am a little nervous as it requires a lot of tamarind and I don't really like tamarind. But if it doesn't turn out good we have some store bought stuff (well made by the owners and packaged to be bought).

Cooking the chutney made the apartment smell a little nasty but once it was cooked and cooled it smelled pretty good. I gave it a try and compared to some other tamarind chutneys I have tried it was one of the better ones :)

Recipe:

Tamarind Chutney

3.5 oz/100g of tamarind pulp, chopped (we used half that amount in tamarind concentrate, and it basically became a broth)
2 cups of water
half a thai chili or to taste, seeded and chopped (we used a jalapeño pepper)
generous 1/4 cup brown sugar or to taste
1/2 tsp salt


Put the tamarind and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Because we used tamarind paste we kept it at a boil for 25 minutes but if you are using the pulp turn the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally. 


Tip the pulp into a strainer and use a spoon to push the pulp into the rinsed out pan. We skipped this step obviously.


Stir in chili, sugar, and salt and continue simmering for an additional 10 minutes or until the desired consistency is reached. Let cool slightly then stir in extra sugar or salt, to taste.


Let cool completely, then cover tightly and chill for up to 3 days, or freeze. We used some about an hour after cooking it and it tasted good, i'm sure after 3 days it will be better.

P.S. I finally updated my older entries. The dates may be off a bit though but only by 2-3 days. Also this recipe is from Indian Cooking by Beverly Leblanc ISBN: 978-1-4075-4921-7