Ingredients

Roasting

1. Oil – 2 tsp
2. Mustard seeds – 1/8 tsp
3. Chana dal – 2 tsp
4. Urad dal – 2 tsp
5. Dry chillies – 3
6. Kashmiri chillies – 3
7. Ginger – 30 to 33 gms
8. Tamarind – small lemon size

Additional ingredients

9. Jaggery - 30 gms
10. Water – 1/3 cup or 100 ml
11. Salt - as per taste

Tempering (tadka)

12. Oil – 1 to 2 tsp
13. Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
14. Dry chillies – 2
15. Curry leaves – 10

Method

1. Peel the skin of ginger, rinse in water and keep it aside. Chop ginger into about 1 inch pieces and keep aside.
2. Remove any seeds from the tamarind, if roasting in oil.

Roasting

3. Heat oil in a small kadai or pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and roast for about 1 to 2 mins until brown in colour. Remove and keep aside.
4. Add dry chillies and tamarind in the same pan, roast until chillies swell and the colour changes. This will take a few seconds to a minute on medium flame. Tamarind will become soft. Remove and keep aside.
5. In the same pan and with the remaining oil, add ginger and saute until it changes its colour to light brown. This will take about 2 to 3 mins. Keep aside.

Grinding

6. First grind mustard, chana dal, urad dal and dry chillies to a coarse powder.
7. Then add all the remaining ingredients with 1/3 cup of water and grind to a smooth paste.
8. Add salt as per taste and grind again.
9. Tempering (tadka)
10. Heat oil in the same kadai or different pan, add mustard seeds, dry chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds until mustard seeds start to pop and curry leaves are crispy.
11. Add the ginger chutney to the pan and mix well. Switch off or cook for about 2 to 3 mins on a low flame and then switch off. The colour changes to a dark colour.
12. Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl. At this stage my chutney looks thick and dark in colour.
13. I added 1/3 cup of water again and mixed to loosen and get the consistency to my liking. You can see the difference in the pictures.
14. Serve with hot dosa, vada, idli or pesarattu.

Notes

1. You can use tamarind pulp or thick paste while grinding - about 2 tsp or more according to taste.
2. You can avoid roasting the tamarind and instead add the tamarind directly to the grinder while making the paste.
3. Adjust the chillies as per your taste and liking.