Date & Tamarind Chutney
A zingy no-cook chutney with a mild kick and no refined sugar. Suitable for the whole family, it tastes amazing on its own or with goat’s cheese, samosas, onion bhajis and all sorts of things to give a savoury punch. We love it simply slathered onto home-made pancakes or with sourdough bread and baked camenbert.
Tamarind is rich in Vitamin C and is excellent for immunity. In the tropics, it has been used to break a fever and cool down the body. The ginger, dates and tamarind make a great digestive aid for a delicate tummy and this combination may help with a sluggish bowel.
This easy and lip-smacking recipe was originally given to us by Lucy Shardlow, who is totally supersonic helping to run things at NatureDoc HQ. She brought in a jar one morning, and my husband made me gluten-free panacakes covered with this delicious tangy mix. It was properly delicious.
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Date & Tamarind Chutney
Ingredients
- 120 g Medjool Date (pitted)
- 20 g Fresh ginger (peeled & roughly chopped)
- 150 g Tamarind block (use less if seedless)
- 0.25 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 300 ml Boiling water
Instructions
- Soak the dates and chopped ginger in half of the boiling water for about 15 minutes.
- Loosen the tamarind into pieces in a bowl and cover with the other half of the boiling water, and soak for 15 minutes.
- With a silicone spatula, work the soaked tamarind through a sieve to get rid of any seeds or husk. It should be quite a thick goo, and you’ll need to scrape it off the bottom of the sieve.
- Use the water from the soaked dates to rinse and get the last of the good goo off the husks.
- Tip the dates, ginger, tamarind paste, cayenne pepper and garam masala into a blender and blitz it all.
- Spoon into a suitable lidded jar, and lick the spoon clean!
Notes
- This keeps in the fridge in a glass jar for up to 2 weeks.
- Depending on your family’s tastes, you can exclude the cayenne pepper, reduce the amount of ginger or add more of both! I find that too much ginger overpowers the garam masala so I tend to go light and add more to the blender if I need to.
- Blocks of fresh tamarind can be bought in Asian and Middle Eastern food shops as well as online.
- For babies and young children, omit the cayenne pepper. Suitable from 6 months.
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