You can’t imagine a chaat recipe without this tamarind date chutney. In Hindi, it is called khajur imli ki chutney. It has a unique sweet and sour taste (khatta-meetha) hence it is also known as meethi chutney.
Take seedless tamarind and dates in a saucepan or patila.
Add 3 cups of water and turn the heat on medium. Let it come to a boil and simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Add jaggery. Also, add salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder and dry ginger powder.
Mix well and let it simmer for again 7-8 minutes. Let this mixture cool down to room temperature.
Grind into a smooth puree.
Strain the chutney using a strainer and discard the remaining stringy pulp.
Sweet chutney is ready, let it cool completely before storing it in the jar.
If it's too thick at this point then you can add some water to make it a runny, drizzling consistency.
Notes
Instant Pot Tamarind Date Chutney:
Add tamarind, date, jaggery and water in instant pot liner. NOTE: you can do the same using the pot-in-pot method.
Cook on Manual (high pressure) for 8-10 minutes.
Once the pin drop, add salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder and dry ginger powder. Mix well.
Follow the same steps as above (grind, strain and store).
Recipe Notes:
You can use the tamarind pulp instead of seedless tamarind. If so use the same amount of tamarind pulp that is easily available in Indian grocery stores.
If using tamarind pulp then no need to strain the chutney mixture. So here is the one less step to do.
Instead of jaggery, you can use regular sugar or brown sugar. But you’ll miss the depth of flavor that jaggery gives.
Storage: It stays good for up to a month in the refrigerator and up to 4-5 months in the freezer.