In Bengali cuisine chutney is served at the end of a full course meal as a separate dish. Bengalis don’t have their chutney with snacks or parathas. 🙂 This Tomato Kul er Chutney is my Mom’s recipe. It has so many complex layers of flavours that it can’t be described in words! You’ve to make it, to experience the actual taste.
The key ingredient here is Kul/Ber (jujube). It’s a seasonal sweet & tangy fruit available for a few months only during winter. This chutney calls for small-sized Ber that we call Topa Kul in Bengali. And you need the ripe ones to make it. The recipe is easy to do, so, give this a try before Ber disappears from the market.
Tomato Kul er Chutney/Tomato Ber (Jujube) Chutney
Ingredients
- Tomato- 4 (medium-sized)
- Kul/Ber/Jujube- 14 (ripe)
- Tamarind- 3 tbsp
- Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
- Salt- ½ tsp
- Vegetable oil- 1 tsp
- Sugar- ½ cup (Adjust as per your taste)
- Whole dry red chilli- 1 (halved)
Method
Soak tamarind into ½ cup of water, keep aside. Break the tamarind into pieces using your fingers, while soaking into water. We get tamarind in hard blocks here, so they need this step to make them soft. If you’re getting regular tender tamarind then soaking is not required.
Roughly chop the tomatoes, keep aside.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan/kadai. Temper with dry red chilli and fennel seeds. Add chopped tomatoes, salt, and turmeric powder. Mix, cover and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Uncover, mash the tomatoes a little bit with the help of a spatula. Now add the tamarind-water concoction into this. Next to add ber and sugar. Mix well, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Sugar will melt completely within this time. Keep stirring in between, remove from the heat. Let it be cooled completely at room temperature.
Serve at the end of a meal, enjoy!
Note:
- The consistency of this chutney should be medium thick. I cook this without water. You can add some water to get the right consistency if the chutney is thickening too much.
- This chutney keeps well up to 7 days. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.
