Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Cilantro Chutney - CSA Veggie Challenge

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If you're one of those people who doesn't like cilantro, I apologize and suggest you skip the rest of this post. 

For the rest of you, read on!



In last week's Veggie CSA share, we got a large bunch of cilantro. What the heck do you do with this much cilantro? Cilantro chutney!

Cilantro chutney is the delicious green sauce often found next to the tamarind sauce at our local Indian restaurants. I knew I liked it but never knew that it was cilantro (with mint) or that it was this easy to make!


 In your blender or food processor, blend/process ingredients until smooth.

Ingredients:
1c fresh cilantro,  packed
1/4c chopped onion*
healthy shake or two of dried red pepper (hot), or similar*
1T fresh mint
small clove garlic*
1/2t lemon juice
1t maple
1/4t salt
3T water
black pepper
1/4t coriander 

*optional - see bottom of post.

Fun fact: cilantro leaves and coriander 
seeds come from the same plant: Coriandrum sativum


We ate about 1/4 of the recipe with some freshly heated naan bread and froze the remaining in an ice cube tray to enjoy at a later date!

This recipe is a conglomeration of a slew of online recipes that used only ingredients I had on hand. Many recipes called for using up to half as much fresh mint as cilantro but I used what I had. I look forward to experimenting with proportions in future batches.

* Items marked with * were only found in some of the recipes I used for inspiration. I happen to like these ingredients and can eat them so I included them.

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4 comments:

  1. Yum! I used all my cilantro making cilantro-chipotle rub for steaks and cilantro-lime butter.
    Any suggestions for dill this week?
    Chandra

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  2. how about pickles, dilly beans, yogurt sauce for keftedes or falafel, dried for later, or in cucumber salad?

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  3. Isn't this more like a pesto than chutney?

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  4. in that it's an herb based sauce yes, but the recipes all call it chutney. It's both sweet and has a hint of spice - like a chutney.

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