Oil free Asparagus chutney
Delicious chutney using trimmed ends of Asparagus! Best out of waste!
Equipment
- Blender
- Pot
- Heavy bottomed pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups trimmed ends of asparagus collected from 2 bunches of Asparagus
- 3 tsp split de-husked black gram urad dal
- Dry tamarind blueberry sized, or use a ½-1 tsp of tamarind paste
- 1 green chilli Any variety including Thai, Indian, adjust to suit taste
- salt to taste
- ¾ cup water or as needed
Instructions
- Add chopped asparagus, tamarind, salt to a pot along with ½ cup of water. Cook covered until Asparagus is fork tender. Let it cool.
- Meanwhile, in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat, dry roast urad dal/black gram along with whole green chilli. Remove from heat when urad dal turns golden brown. Keep stirring so that urad dal doesn't burn and roasts evenly.NOTE: If not making an oil-free version, use 1/4 tsp of oil to roast the dal and chilli.
- Add cooled asparagus along with tamarind, roasted dal, chilli into a blender jar and blend into a smooth paste. To keep the chutney thick, add just enough water to help with the blending.
- Taste and adjust salt and serve with rice, dosa.
Optional hot oil seasoning/tadka for a version with oil
- Heat 1 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
- When oil is heated, add ¼ tsp black mustard seeds, 1 broken dry red chilli.
- When mustard splutters, add ⅛ tsp hing/asafoetida and pour the oil along with spices over the chutney.
Notes
- I make this chutney using the ends of Asparagus that are trimmed off. Most of the times they are not completely woody but not tender enough to be roasted. The parts that are too woody may need to be discarded.
- Asparagus tops can be used too, instead of just the ends.
- Green chilli can also be cooked with Asparagus, instead of being roasted with urad dal.
- I find this chutney flavorful even without the hot oil seasoning/tadka, so I personally skip adding the tadka.