Ginger Chutney, commonly called “Allam Pachadi” in Telugu (a South Indian regional language) is a popular chutney from the ‘Andhra’ region of South India.
‘Allam’ means Ginger and Chutney is ‘Pachadi’ in Telugu language.
Uses
South Indian dishes like Idli, Dosa, Vada, Pesarattu are incomplete without this ginger chutney. Apart from these, you can use it as chutney to accompany fritters (‘Pakodas’) or in sandwiches. You could just include it as an accompaniment in your meal to add flavor! Psst…I like having this chutney by mixing it with plain steamed rice ☺️
Benefits of Ginger
From ancient India and China to Greece and Rome, ginger is used as a culinary and medicinal spice. Native to southeastern Asia, India and China, ginger is an integral component of the diet here. It’s known for its aromatic, culinary and medicinal properties for thousands of years.
Ginger helps treating many forms of nausea, especially morning sickness. It’s been proven to be effective against exercise-induced muscle pain. Ginger can also assist in treating indigestion.
What is Chutney?
Chutney is from south Asian cuisine and just like salsa, there is no right or wrong recipe ?! It’s all about the flavor. Chutney can be sweet, tart, spicy or hot. It adds flavor balance to dish/ meal.
Chutney is mostly associated with India, but what is generally not known is, it has a great presence and use in African and Caribbean cuisines as well.
Chutney can be fresh or cooked, made with a variety of ingredients, generally fruits and/or vegetables and spices. The texture can be chunky or smooth.
Other Chutney recipes: Peanut Tamarind Chutney, Tomato Chutney, Dahi Ki Chutney
About the recipe
For the love of chutney, I tried being as authentic and traditional while making this chutney as I can! This chutney, will have all 4 flavors: tangy, spicy, hot and sweet ?
Following a few basic steps can preserve your chutney/ pickles for long:
- Store your chutney/ pickles in airtight glass/ ceramic jars. Don’t store them in plastic containers.
- Prevent any form of moisture from entering chutney/ pickle while being stored.
- Always store them in a cool and dry place.
- Add sufficient oil to form a layer on top of chutney/ pickles. Oil helps to increase the shelf life of your chutney/ pickle.
The recipe requires using fresh ginger, tamarind pulp and jaggery. The red chili and salt levels can be adjusted according to an individual preference. Since ‘Andhra’ recipes generally are hot (in terms of chili levels), I adjusted the hotness based on my preference. ?
Cook and cool ginger and tamarind pulp separately, before grinding them together. I used fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) to add a little bitterness. Add jaggery (or as we call ‘Gud’ in ‘Hindi’) in the end to the grinder, as it prevents proper grinding of other ingredients if added in the beginning.
The final touch is mild tempering using basic Indian spices. Voila! Ginger chutney is ready ?????
Ginger Chutney
Ingredients
For the chutney
- 250 grams Fresh Ginger or 250 ml in a measuring cup
- 1/2 cup Tamarind pulp/ paste
- 1/4 cup jaggery or 'gud' (in Hindi)
- 2 1/2 tbsp Red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds or methi seeds
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
For tempering
- 1/3 cup cooking oil
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 2 Dried red chilli broken
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- a pinch Asafetida or hing
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp Chana dal or split chickpeas
- 1 tsp Urad dal or split bengal gram
Instructions
- Wash ginger to remove dirt and peel skin. Let it dry for sometime. Next chop it into small pieces. Using a little oil in a pan, stir fry for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- I used the ready to use tamarind pulp available in Indian grocery stores. If you are working with raw tamarind, prepare the pulp.
- In the same pan (that was used to fry ginger), add the tamarind pulp and bring it to a boil. Boil it for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- In a small pan dry roast the fenugreek seeds. Cool and grind them to fine powder. Keep it aside.
- Measure and keep jaggery aside.
- In a blender/ grinder/ food processor, take the stir fried ginger pieces and obtain a smooth paste without any water.
- Next add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and tamarind pulp to the ginger mix. Blend it well.
- Now add the measured jaggery and blend it once again. Adjust the salt and hotness according to your preference.
- Next add fenugreek powder and blend it one last time.
- In a small pan heat oil. Add the dals and fry it until they start to turn golden brown. Next add dried red chili, curry leaves, mustard seeds, asafetida and garlic paste. Fry for a minute.
- Now add the chutney from the blender/ grinder/ food processor to the tempering and mix well in the pan.
- Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Once cooled, transfer to a glass jar and refrigerate.
- Enjoy with Pesarattu, idli or dosas.
Notes
- Ginger Chutney lasts for up to a year if stored and refrigerated properly.
Nutrition
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