Peanut Chutney

This condiment has only recently made it's way into my list of frequently made things. It goes well with dosas, adai, and upma.  Growing up, I never ate peanut chutney. ever. Things that usually accompanied dosai and adai were molaga podi, coconut chutney and vellam (jaggery). And some sort of vegetable dish like a potato masala for dosai and avial (mixed vegetable stew with coconut) for adai.

So you can imagine my surprise when R asked me to try making this peanut chutney thing many years back. I was like... "um ok...." but of course I was really not a huge fan of peanuts (although now this dish has sort of converted me)  and I don't like snacking on them like many people do. But it seemed like an interesting dish to make so why not give it a try. Worked great! I don't recall where or which website provided the launching pad for this but here is how I make it now.

Ingredients:

-  3/4 cup roasted peanuts
-  2 dry red chillis
-  1 large clove garlic
-  1/2 onion chopped
-  1 tsp tamarind concentrate paste
- 1 Tbsp honey

For seasoning:
-  1/2 tsp mustard seeds
-  1/2 tsp urad dal
-  5-6 curry leaves
-  2 tsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. In 1 Tbsp oil, sautee onions, garlic and red chillis till the onions are soft. 
2. Let it cool down for about 10 minutes. This step is important. Let it rest!
3. In a food processor or blender,  combine the sauteed mixture, with tamarind, honey and a bit of water. Don't hate me for saying "a bit of water". I honestly have no idea how much water it takes for it to get to a pureed consistency. So just add a little at a time until the entire thing comes together and forms a puree. 
4. Salt to taste
5. Transfer to a serving bowl.
6. For seasoning, in a separate small sautee pan,  heat the 2 tsp oil till it is fairly hot.
7. Add the urad dal and mustard seeds and curry leaves. It will splutter so stand back so you don't get mustard seeds all over your face.
8. Pour this over the chutney.

I find the honey adds a very nice contrast to the spiciness of the chillies. If you're not a fan of spicy food, make it milder by just adding one whole chilli pepper. 

Another note- I used to peel off the skins of the peanuts but now I've gotten lazy and it tastes just fine with the skin on.