Kaara Chutney

Ingredients

• Onion - 2 (roughly chopped) - You can also use 15 pearl onions instead
• Tomatoes - 2 or 3 (roughly chopped)
• Dry red chillies - 5 (or to taste)
• Garlic cloves - 3
• Ginger - very small piece (about 1/4")
• Urad dal (Black gram) - 1 tblsp
• Oil - 2 tblsp
• Salt - to taste

Method

• Heat oil in a pan and fry the urad dal till it turns slightly brown.
• Add the dry red chillies, ginger piece and garlic pods. Fry for a minute or so.
• Add the onion and tomato pieces. Saute for few minutes till both the onion and tomato pieces are soft but not browned.
• Switch off and cool the mixture a bit.
• Grind it to a smooth chutney along with salt. (You can add a very tiny piece of tamarind if you feel the tomatoes are not sour enough.)
• Transfer the chutney to a serving dish. This chutney can be served with Idli, Dosa, or Utthappam
• Variations:
• You can add a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves to the chutney and make it more flavorful.
• If you want to add some texture to the chutney, include 2 tblsp of grated coconut while grinding.
• This chutney is very versatile. You can skip the garlic, ginger, urad dal or substitute urad dal with channa dal. Each variation has a slightly different flavor.