Bengali style Tomato Khejur Amsotto sweet chutney - A spicy tangy sweet Bengali dessert

All Bengalis love different sweet deserts and Tomato chaatni / chutney is one of them. In fact tomato chutney exists in kitchen of different states of India and they make it in different ways – not always sweet. The recipe which I am going to describe is traditional Bengali one the taste being sweet and tangy, a little spicy too. My grandmother used to make this recipe in my childhood and we used to bribe her to have one more spoonful of the same. Oh! My mouth starts watering just thinking about it. Without much ado let us start this one.

Preparation Time: - 5 min

Cooking Time: - 20 min

Servings: - 4~5 persons

Ingredients:-

 1.      5~6 nice juicy red plumpy tomatoes

2.      2 tsp black mustard seeds

3.      2 dry red chilli

4.      10~12 pitted dates

5.      Pinch of turmeric powder

6.      Pinch of salt

7.      Amsotto – Bengali mango bar (optional)

8.      1/3 cup golden raisins

9.      1 tsp Ginger juice

10.   ½ cup Sugar

11.   1 tbsp Tamarind paste

12.   Few drops of lemon juice (optional)

13.   ½ cup water

14.   Pinch of dry roasted cumin powder or Bengali 5 spice mix paanch-phoran (optional)

15.   3 tbsp Vegetable oil (Bengalis like mustard oil here but I believe sunflower or any vegetable oil is more suited for this preparation)

Preparation:-

1. Wash and chop tomatoes in large chunks.
2. Chop 10-12 pitted dates in halves or in thin slices.
3. Grate ginger and squeeze to get the juice.
4. Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel / sauce pan.
5. When the oil is sufficiently heated turn the burner to medium heat.
6. Temper the hot oil with black mustard seeds and Red Chili. Cover with a lid to avoid mustard dancing spraying in your kitchen. You can avoid the Chili if you don't want spicy.
7. When the mustard sputters, add the chopped tomatoes, a pinch of turmeric powder, little salt and sauté them.
8. Then cover and cook the tomatoes at low heat. The juicy tomatoes will release a lot of liquid and will cook in their own juice. Every minute or so, remove the lid and give a good stir
9. Once the tomatoes are almost done, add the chopped dates and raisins. Stir well.
10. If you have amsotto (Bengali mango bar or in some places called mango papad), add some chopped now.
11. Add about ginger juice and water and cook for a few more minutes till the tomatoes have totally disintegrated and thoroughly cooked to a soft pulp.
12. Add sugar and mix well, adjust for salt & sugar according to your taste.
13. Let the chutney simmer and reduce to a thick consistency
14. To make the chutney tangy add tamarind chutney to the tomato chutney. You can use a store bought one or make one of your own using tamarind pulp. This really gives the chutney a sweet-tangy taste instead of just sweet.
15. You can optionally sprinkle few drops of lemon juice here to make it tangier. In fact you can replace the tamarind chutney with a few more drops of lemon juice as well.

Now your sweet tangy spicy tomato chutney is ready to be consumed. Before serving, sprinkle with dry roasted cumin powder or dry roasted and ground paanch-phoron powder.

Serve this dessert with any meal or as we used to do in our childhood have it emni emni (alone).

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.