Ginger Chutney (Inji Curry) - Onam Special

With the festival of Onam around the corner, i thought it would be fun recreating some of my favorite onam recipes prepared by mom.

Onam brings along fond memories of family get together, cooking delicious recipes with family and eating on a banana leaf to our heart's content :D. Everyone in my family cooks something or the other this day. Even my father prepares his signature payasam (rice kheer/pudding) for every onam. 

Onam is a hindu festival celebrated by Malayalee's (also fondly referred to as Mallu's :P) in the state of Kerala, India and malayalee's all across the globe :). It is considered to be festival of harvest and marks the homecoming of mythical king Mahabali. The Onam ritual includes making of Pookalam or floral carpet in one's home or patio/balcony, Sadya (onam feast) served on a banana leaf, which includes around 14 to 15 types of curries & vegetable dishes, sambar, rice, pappadam, different types of pickles and payasam (rice pudding) for dessert. Dance and music is also one of the rituals followed by many. 

In this post i am presenting one of my favorite Inji (ginger) curry or you may also call it ginger chutney. Served along side other pickles like mango and lemon during onam, this happens to be the one i like the most.

Spicy, sweet and tangy all at the same time, its like a little party in your mouth. This chutney can be served on the side with all the daily indian rice preparations and even with idili, dosa and pessarattu. 

Recipe Courtesy: Mom :)

This recipe will make around half a cup of chutney.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/2 cup of peeled and thinly sliced ginger 

1/4 cup of tamarind pulp (made by soaking tamarind in warm water for few mins)

1/4 cup of melted jaggery 

Salt to taste

Oil for frying ginger  

For tempering 

1/2 tsp of mustard seeds

1/4 tsp of asafoetida or hing

1/2 tsp of chili powder 

7 - 8 curry leaves  

1 tbsp of oil 

Method:

1) Prepare tamarind pulp by soaking tamarind in warm water, squeeze with hand and remove pulp. Strain and keep it aside.  In a small sauce pan melt the jaggery with 1 - 2 tbsp of water, remove from heat when jaggery is completely melted. Set this aside. 

2) In a separate pan take about 1/4 cup of oil. Add the sliced ginger when the oil is hot. Fry the ginger slices on a medium flame till it becomes nice golden brown and crispy. Be careful not to burn it.

Couldn't resist clicking a picture of sliced ginger :) 

3) Remove the fried ginger from the pan and place it on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Allow it to cool for few mins

4) Transfer the fried ginger into a food processor/mixer and grind it to a coarse texture. 

5) Now in a saucepan add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the mustard seeds when the oil is hot and let them splutter. Add asafoetida, chili powder and curry leaves. Saute for few mins.

6) Now add the ginger, tamarind pulp, melted jaggery and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and cook. Keep on cooking and stirring it until the chutney starts looking shiny and thickens a bit. Remove from heat and let it cool. Transfer it into a glass bottle.

Allow to cool and serve as a side with rice, dosa, pessarattu and i think this will also work well as a chutney for dipping and eating regular pappads.  Store in a glass jar and refrigerate.