Tamarind and Date Indian Chutney

This Indian condiment is a great balance of a little tangy, a little sweet and a little sour. Tamarind and Date Chutney (or Imli chutney) is one of the delicious sauces served in Indian restaurants, usually with papadum, samosa and chaat (savory snacks).

This vegan and gluten-free sauce is made with sweet, juicy dates, tamarind paste (more on this below) and spices This sauce is rich on its own, but perfect to serve with the Lentil Dal Curry Samosa (picture below) that I made last week.

Jaggery, which is really sweet natural cane sugar from India is traditional to sweeten the chutney, but since it is not easily found, granulated (caster) sugar works just as well.

Dates are a delicious and natural way to add sweetness and texture. Medjool dates (my favorite to snack on) are large and very soft, which enables them to melt into the sauce easily.

Let’s talk about tamarind paste. Tamarind (Imli in Hindi) is a fruit from a pod that is tree grown and popular in both Indian and Thai cooking. The fruit pulp is soaked in boiling water, then strained. It is very hard to find tamarind pods so I find it easier to just buy the paste online.

This condiment is not spicy at all. If you would like to add a kick, you can add a little red kashmiral powder or cayenne pepper.

If you’ve made this Tamarind and Date Indian Chutney, please leave a comment below. If you have a question, leave it there too. I love to hear from my readers!