Cilantro-Date Chutney
Published Nov. 17, 2021
- Total Time
- About 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 10medjool dates, pitted
- ⅓cup freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste (from 2 to 3 limes)
- 2jalapeños, stemmed and thinly sliced (remove seeds if desired for a milder sauce)
- 1tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 6garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 4cups loosely packed cilantro leaves and tender stems (from about 2 large bunches)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
187 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 41 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 252 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place cumin in a small skillet and set over medium-high heat. Toast for 2 to 3 minutes, or until seeds just begin to change color and emit a faint aroma. Immediately dump seeds into a spice grinder or mortar, and grind to a powder.
- Step 2
Place dates, lime juice, jalapeños, ginger, garlic, salt and cumin into the bowl of a food processor and pulse, stopping periodically to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. Try to get this mixture as uniformly puréed as possible, though a little texture is fine.
- Step 3
Add the cilantro and continue to pulse to break it down. Then, add as little water as possible — about a tablespoon — to get the blades moving and turn the mixture into the sauce. Continue scraping the sides and pulsing until no large bits of stem or leaf remain and the sauce is a lovely, almost-but-not-quite-smooth texture. Taste, and add lime juice and salt as needed. Cover and refrigerate until serving. This sauce will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- This sauce can be made up to 1 day in advance.
Private Notes
Comments
A quick culture/history refresher: Parsis are Zoroastrians who originally fled Persia after the Arab Conquest and settled on India's west coast (initially, Gujarat state: most now live in Mumbai). Well-known Parsis include Freddie Mercury of Queen (originally Farrokh Balsara), conductor Zubin Mehta, and Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard, co-creator of the Implicit Association Test. Parsi cuisine is one of India's great sub-cuisines, possibly the most friendly to meat-eating Western cultures.
The recipe will work well with parsley, mint, or a combination.
Ms. King's "My Bombay Kitchen" (U.Cal. Press) is a very good book on Parsi cooking: Jeroo Mehta's "101 Parsi Dishes" (also in Kindle format) is even better. The two recipes Ms. Nosrat cites, however, are widespread throughout North and West India (Parsis adopted them from Gujarati cuisine). See indianhealthyrecipes.com/tamarind-chutney ("jaggery"=raw brown sugar; regular's OK) and vegrecipesofindia.com/coriander-chutney. Ms. Nosrat's fusion is interesting, though I like the two separate.
When I was making this, I thought “this is a crazy recipe!” but I love and trust Samin…guess what? Absolutely delicious! I brought it to Friendsgiving and everyone loved it. The first bite is like an experience of complete flavors taking turns exploding in your mouth. Highly recommend! And this doesn’t even need any oil! I pitted and cut the medjool dates to be soaked in lime juice separately first. And I only used one big jalapeño because I wanted it to be less spicy. Still SO flavorful!
Wow. It’s early Thanksgiving morning, and I just made this for the first time after hearing Samin mention it on a podcast. I can’t wait to share with family later today. Amazing, mind-blowing stuff! Thank you.
I christened my new food processor with this chutney. So easy to make and outstandingly delicious. Of course I'm a big cilantro fan. Thank you Samin!!!!!