Mint Chutney

by Peter on Aug.01, 2009, under herbs, sauce

Mint-1459

One of my favorite uses for spearmint is in the making of sun tea. Add a handful of sprigs as your brewing it and you end up with a wonderfully refreshing summertime drink. Unfortunately, the way the mint is taking over my herb garden I’d have to make a gallon of sun tea every day for the next 2 months. Needless to say I needed to find other uses for it to try and use up even half of the stuff. Here’s a wonderful mint chutney I’ve created to help me in my endeavor to use up my mint. This chutney goes well with pork, chicken, and, of course, lamb. It works well with Indian foods but works equally well with simple grilled meats or as a wonderful addition to lamb burgers.

Mint Chutney

1/2 cup Onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. Fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 cup Raisins, finely chopped (preferably golden raisins)
1 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 cup Tamarind pulp (if not available use lemon juice instead with 1 tsp. of sugar added)
1/4 cup Water
1 each Serrano pepper, seeded and chopped (more if you like the heat)
1 tsp. Ground Coriander
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Fresh Mint Leaves
1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro leaves

Melt the butter in a nonreactive sauce pot. Add the onions and ginger and saute until tender. Add the raisins, tamarind, water, Serrano, coriander and salt. Cook until Serrano and raisins are tender and of of the liquid has evaporated. Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile place mint and cilantro leaves into a blender. Add just enough water to allow the leaves to blend. Blend until almost smooth. When onion-raisin mixture is cool add the mint mixture and stir to combine. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered, for 1-2 hours to allow all the flavors to develop then serve.

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