Crab Apple Chutney/Dip

Crab Apple – don’t ask me how it is related to apple and why the word ‘crab’ in it! 🙂 Crab apple is a small red coloured fruit, which is very sour in taste. I came to know of a couple of years ago. There was (still is) a little tree in our front garden, planted by our house builder. It bears small fruit like a cherry, but not the same taste as that of cherry. For the first couple of years, I never thought of doing anything with it. Then one time a neighbour told me that it is crab apple tree, and it is used to make jellies. I googled and understood that it is an excellent source of pectin, hence people mainly use it to make jelly.

I am not into jelly, so the Indian in me finalised at the next best usage of this fruit – chutney! When I made the chutney for the first time, my darling hubby became a huge fan of it! After that I had to made 2 big batches as he plucked all the crab apples from the tree! This crab apple chutney is a sweet and sour dip which you can enjoy with chips, pancakes, fritters, paranthas, etc.

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Coconut Chutney

This post presents one of the well-known dips Coconut Chutney, which is a must-have accompaniment in the South Indian cuisine. It is a very simple and quick recipe and, can be enjoyed with all meals during the day. North Indians predominantly associate it with Idli, Dosa, Medu Vada and Upma but this is present across all the South Indian states and used extensively.

Capsicum (Bell Pepper/Pepper) Chutney/Dip

I like peppers (Capsicum; Shimla Mirch in Hindi) and have always used them in my vegetable curries or to make side-dish like dry pepper curry or pepper with chickpea flour. To be honest, I had never heard of Bell Pepper Chutney until recently. As usual, that did trigger the cook in me to try it out :). On an impulse, I prepared the chutney with Spinach Theplas over the weekend and the combo was just a super hit !

Tamarind (Imli) Chutney/ Dip

Now, the way it works with Indian snacks/street food is that you simply cannot eat them without the real chutneys/dips 🙂 One such chutney that really goes with almost all of the Indian street cuisine is real, tangy Tamarind chutney. It is a great accompaniment with fried snacks like samosa, kachori, pakode etc., and also with chaat items like dahi wada, papdi chaat, aloo tikki chaat and so on and so forth. In fact, in honesty, we Indians will not enjoy any of these without our indigenous Tamarind chutney.

Cucumber Chutney (Dip)

People mostly use cucumber in salads and/or in raita. I however make a dry cucumber curry which I have already posted earlier. Needless to say, this chutney is a bit different from the other dips as it is real healthy and flavourful. Cucumber is very nutritious vegetable – the Potassium richness in cucumber helps in regulating the blood pressure levels. Cucumber helps to reduce cholesterol, promotes digestion, rehydrates and remineralized the body. Cucumber is also eaten raw during summer as it has a cooling effect and helps in regulating the body temperature.

Coriander (Dhaniya) Chutney

Coriander (Dhaniya in Hindi) chutney is an easy, very delicious, flavourful and definitely healthy chutney/dip. I usually tend to have it with all of my snacks, paranthas and also as a side during lunch/dinner. The distinct taste and smell makes it very appealing to me – good enough reason for me to prepare it and store in the refrigerator for future consumption.

Curry Leaves Chutney

Curry leaves (kadi patta in Hindi) are normally used as a spice in Indian cuisine, mainly to give a distinct flavour to the dishes. I have mainly used curry leaves in upma, daal and select vegetable curries. But today I have went ahead and have prepared a curry leaves chutney; yes, you have read it right – a chutney. This chutney is very different and superb in taste.