Bengali Tomato Chutney is an amazing combination of sweet & spiciness. In general tomato chutney is a sauce based dish prepared with fresh tomatoes and other spices or masalas.
Bengali Tomato Chutney is prepared as a sweet and spicy dish and is popularly served with papad.
The preparation doesn’t take much time and can be cooked very easily. Be it an occasion or festivity, tomato chutney is a must to have a dish on the menu.
Tomato Chutney can be prepared in several variations specific to a particular regional taste. We Bengalis prefer it to be a little sweet & spicy.
“Panch Foron” or the Bengali 5 spice mix adds the uniqueness to it. Bengali Tomato Chutney is prepared with ripe tomatoes, sweet and any sort of dry fruits.
This dish is so popular among Bengalis that they don’t need any special occasion to prepare it.
Even on a regular day also Tomato Chutney can be included in the lunch menu. Bengali Tomato Chutney tastes like heaven in a Sunday lunch after chicken/mutton.
I’m sure every Bong reading this article can relate to what I’m trying to say. In short, Tomato-chutney adds extra sweetness to our lunch or dinner.
Ingredients:
- 250 gm Tomatoes
- 10-15 gm Cashew
- 15 gm Raisins
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil/ Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Panch Phoron
- 1-2 Bay leaves (Tej Patta)
- 1-2 Dry Red Chilly
- Salt & Turmeric as required
- 200 gm Sugar / Jaggery. I’ve used jaggery here as I prefer the not so sweet taste of it. If you want, simply replace jaggery with sugar.
Method of preparation of Bengali Tomato Chutney:
- Take a heavy-bottomed pan or Kadhai. Add mustard oil or any kind of refined oil or vegetable oil (whatever you prefer).
- Temper the oil with Panch Phoron, Bay leaves & dry red chilly.
- After a min, add chopped tomatoes into the pan.
- Add salt and turmeric as required. Cover the pan and cook it on medium heat until the tomatoes turn soft.
- In between check the tomatoes and break the larger chunks if any with your spatula. Add water if needed.
- Bring it to boil & cook the tomatoes until they become mushy soft. It will take around 5-8 mins.
- After that add the cashews, raisins and other dry fruits or freshly chopped fruits.
- Now add sugar/jaggery. Mix all those well. Let the chutney boil for another couple of minutes.
- Turn off the heat when the chutney reaches its desired consistency.
Few more Bengali recipes that you may like:
BENGALI TOMATO CHUTNEY RECIPE
Ingredients
Ingredients and Step by Step Recipe :
- 250 gm Tomatoes
- 10-15 gm Cashew
- 15 gm Raisins
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil/ Vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp Panch Phoron
- 1-2 Bay leaves (Tej patta)
- 1-2 Dry Red Chilly
- Salt & Turmeric as required
- 200 gm Sugar / Jaggery I've used jaggery here as I prefer the not so sweet taste of it. If you want, simply replace jaggery with sugar.
Instructions
- Take a heavy bottomed pan or Kadhai. Add mustard oil or any kind of refined oil or vegetable oil (whatever you prefer).
- Temper the oil with Panch Phoron, Bay leaves & dry red chilly.
- After a min, add chopped tomatoes into the pan.
- Add salt and turmeric as required. Cover the pan and cook it on medium heat until the tomatoes turn soft.
- In between check the tomatoes and break the larger chunks if any with your spatula. Add water if needed.
- Bring it to boil & cook the tomatoes until they become mushy soft. It will take around 5-8 mins.
- After that add the cashews, raisins and other dry fruits or fresh chopped fruits.
- Now add sugar/jaggery. Mix all those well. Let the chutney boil for another couple of minutes.
- Turn off the heat when the chutney reaches its desired consistency.
Notes
- Make sure to use ripe tomatoes. As ripe tomatoes can be cooked easily and enhance the taste of the chutney.
- You can use any sort of dry fruits like I've used here cashews & raisins. You can add dates, almonds also.
- Fresh fruits such as grapes, pomegranates, cherries properly chopped in small pieces can also be added.
- This is a very special tip among all others. Panch Phoron used here in this recipe is nothing but a mixture of 5 spices : Fennel seeds (Saunf in Hindi), Cumin seeds (Jeera), Fenugreek seeds (Methi), Black Mustard seeds, Nigella seeds (Kalonji).
- Do not prefer to add water in this recipe unless the chutney becomes dried while cooking. If required, add a very small quantity of water otherwise the taste will be reduced.