Kara chutney | How to make kaara chutney for idlis
Kara chutney, a simple ten minutes chutney side dish for idlis, uthappam and dosas.
As all of you know chutneys are completely gluten-free, made with vegetables, herbs even fruits and spices. There are no South Indian homes where chutneys are not made.
Almost all of the Indian grain-based breakfast or dinner dishes, you name it appam, upma, Pongal, idli, idli upma, vada, dosa, uthappam, even chapati or pooris will definitely keep one side accompaniment as chutney. Try with Rava dosa, Crispy adai and Pesarattu.
The complete list of easy chutney/thogayal recipes from my blog:
Chutneys can be made with most of the vegetables and the most commonly used are the basic onion or tomato or onion tomato combo. Coming to this kaara chutney, you might have tasted this style of chutney in our local roadside idli shops or mess(small canteen or cafeteria).
This Kara chutney is the best combo with hot idlis and we can also make bulk quantities to store up to one week in the refrigerator.
Further, the original Kara chutni recipe uses only shallots (small onions) for the original taste. But when they are hardly available we can make chutni with big onions and bring the same heated taste by increasing the number of red chillies.
In addition to the above said, I use a small piece of jaggery to this chutney before grinding as it enhances the sourness and heat of the chutney.
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Kara chutney | How to make kaara chutney for idlis
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 10 shallots (small onions)
- 2 tomatoes
- 4 red chillies (as per taste)
- 1 garlic pod
- Few curry leaves
- Small piece tamarind
- ¾ tsp salt (as per taste)
- ½ tsp jaggery
- For tempering (optional):
- 1 tsp oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp hing
- ½ tsp urad dal
Instructions
Preparation:
- Peel shallots and chop tomatoes. You can use a big onion if shallots are not available in your place.
Recipe:
- Heat oil in a pan, add shallots and saute.
- Fry onions in oil for atleast 5 mins until they become soft and light brown. If you don't do this step as long as it needs, the raw pungent taste makes the chutney too sharp to consume.
- When the onions are cooked soft and tender add tomatoes.
- Saute until the tomatoes become soft.
- Add garlic, red chillies and saute for two minutes.
- Also, add some fresh curry leaves and a small piece of tamarind.
- Add required salt and a piece of jaggery before switching off.
- Let the mixture cool down a bit and grind into a smooth chutney.
- Serve the Kara chutney with hot idlis and dosas.
For tempering: (optional)
- Heat a tsp of oil in a tadka pan.
- Add mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and split urad dal.
- Let the mustard crackle and dal become a golden color.
- Add this tempering on top of the kaara chutney before serving.
Video
Notes
1) Usually, during busy mornings I don't add extra tempering for this spicy Kara chutney. It is tasty without tempering also.
2) In addition, the amount of red chillies is based on the spice need of an individual. For shallot (as it is hotter than big onion) use only fewer chillies and increase when you use big onion.
Nutrition
Preparation:
- Peel shallots and chop tomatoes. You can use a big onion if shallots are not available in your place.
Recipe:
- Heat oil in a pan, add shallots and saute.
- Fry onions in oil for atleast 5 mins until they become soft and light brown. If you don’t do this step as long as it needs, the raw pungent taste makes the chutney too sharp to consume.
- When the onions are cooked soft and tender add tomatoes.
- Saute until the tomatoes become soft. Add garlic, red chillies and saute for two minutes.
- Also, add some fresh curry leaves and a small piece of tamarind.
- Add required salt and a piece of jaggery before switching off.
- Let the mixture cool down a bit and grind into a smooth chutney.
- Serve the Kara chutney with hot idlis and dosas.
For tempering (optional) :
- Heat a tsp of oil in a tadka pan.
- Add mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and split urad dal.
- Let the mustard crackle and dal become a golden color.
- Add this tempering on top of the kaara chutney before serving.
Tips:
1) Usually, during busy mornings I don’t add extra tempering for this spicy Kara chutney. It is tasty without tempering also.
2) In addition, the amount of red chillies is based on the spice need of an individual. For shallot (as it is hotter than big onion) use only fewer chillies and increase when you use big onion.
