Back to Basics - Peanut Chutney

Peanut is the most humble of the nuts but its popularity is unparalled by any other nut in the world! Not many people are aware that India is one of the leading producers of this nut. Most of the Peanut is produced in Western and Southern parts of India. In Maharashtra where I come from, Peanuts are used extensively in cuisine in various forms - Peanut Oil is the main cooking medium and ground Peanuts are added to curries. Not only that, we also have dishes where Peanut is the main ingredient - such as Chikki (Peanut Snaps), Shengdanyachi Amti (Peanut Curry), Shengdanyachi Chutney (Peanut Chutney) and even Shengdanyachi Poli (Flatbreads with sweet Peanut Stuffing).

Peanut Chutney is an essential item of a traditional Maharashtrian Thali and is used as a condiment. Just a teaspoon of this chutney is enough to perk up an entire meal! Unlike in UK, in India Chutney is a term used loosely for any dry or wet spicy condiment. Peanut Chutney is a dry preparation of ground peanuts with chillies as the main spice.

Peanut Chutney is very easy to make if you have a spice grinder. I learnt to prepare Peanut Chutney from my mother. Before electric mixer-grinder came into our household, mum used to make chutney the traditional way which involves grinding roasted, skinned peanuts using pestle and mortar. I used to find this process fascinating and often used to insist on doing it myself. So this is one of the first things I learnt to make :-)  It is a hard-work grinding on pestle and mortar... These days, you have so many gadgets in your kitchen that you sometimes wonder how difficult life would have been without them! Peanut Chutney preparation is a breeze now - thanks to availability of roasted peanuts and electrical gadgets to easily grind them!

There are two types of Peanut Chutneys I make:

Red Peanut Chutney

Ingredients

1 cup roasted, skinned Peanuts
1 tbsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp salt (or to your taste)
5-6 Garlic Cloves

Method

Grind all the above in a spice grinder to get a coarse loose powder. Store it in an air-tight container.

Green Peanut Chutney (or Shengdanyacha Thecha)

Ingredients

1 cup roasted, skinned Peanuts
6-8 Garlic Cloves
6 Green Chillies (or according to your taste)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp oil

Method

• Crush or grind chillies with garlic. Add salt to this paste.
• Make a coarse powder of Peanuts in a spice-grinder.
• Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the chilli-garlic paste.
• Add the ground Peanuts to the pan and mix well to combine with chilli-garlic paste. Keep roasting the Chutney for 5-6 minutes or until the Peanuts start turning brownish in colour.
• Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice to chutney and stir to combine well.

A word of caution - Keep the kitchen windows open and cooker extractor on when preparing this as the chilli fumes can make your eyes water.

This chutney keeps well in refrigerator for a week.

Peanut chutney can be served as accompaniment to Varan Bhaat (Steamed Rice with Plain Dal) or can be  eaten simply with Chapatis.