Chakramuni Chutney
This is really a generic chutney adapted for use with chakramuni greens. Use mint instead of chakramuni and it’s an entirely different taste experience. Use more yogurt and no tamarind, and it’s really a tambuli. Skip both yogurt and tambuli and it becomes a bit like the chutneys served with dosas and idlis at restaurants. There’s no wrong way to make it, as long as you like the outcomes!
To fry:
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 6-8 Chakramuni leaves [each full pinnately compound strand is 1]
- 2-3 green chillies, roughly chopped
- A small piece of ginger, chopped
To grind:
- ½ cup freshly grated coconut
- A small piece of tamarind or 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt
- A little jaggery, to taste
- Salt, to taste
To temper:
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon urad dal
- 1 broken red chilli
- A pinch of asafoetida or hing
- A strand of curry leaves
Strip the chakramuni leaves from their strands, and wash to clean.
In a tablespoon of hot oil, fry the green chillies (broken into pieces or chopped) and the ginger. When these turn fragrant, add the greens and sautee until they wilt. Switch off the flame.
Assemble all the grinding ingredients plus the fried chilli-ginger-chakramuni in the jar of a blender, and pulse until you get the consistency you desire. If you’re using tamarind, you may need to add water. If you’re using curd, too, you may need water but less. You can leave this chutney rough or make it entirely smooth.
Taste and adjust sweet-sour-spiciness. Transfer to a serving dish.
To temper:
Heat oil in a tempering pan and when it’s smoking hot quickly add all the dry tempering ingredients—wait for them to splutter and pop—and then add the curry leaves.
Once these crisp, pour over the waiting chutney and mix and/or cover to capture all the volatiles and tastes!