Chap Chatni~ SweetTamarind Dip

Chap Chatni (Chap-p chutney)… the name itself evokes a wave of nostalgia; of the times when sneaking out of the school gates to buy eatables during the recess (lunch break) was common. The carts loaded with seasonal Indian berries (Remember Ber/ Hiramoti?), cucumber, raw mangoes, fresh tamarind, starfruit etc would be buzzing with the kids buying stuff in a hurry. Of course there were Vada paos, Samose, Barf gola (Chuski), lemonade etc that our moms never approved of but were still bought with our ‘barely existing pocket money’!

You can read more about the childhood memories of food sold outside schools, here!

Another thing that my mom would warn us against, was Chap Chatni. The furious red colored, tangy and sweet, lick-able  chutney sold out side the school gates that kids were crazy about, was prohibited for us.
Not only outside the school gates but at the beaches of Mumbai one can find vendors selling the chatpata stuff!

The vendor would plonk a spoon full of it on the piece of newspaper and the kids would literally scoop it with the finger and lick it.

Chap Chatni ( Roughly meaning ‘lip smacking’) is basically a tamarind dip  with basic rustic flavors. It is a kind of  chatpata preserve; thick, glazy, chunky, tangy and sweet. Something that would make the Sindhi kids of the yore drool and feel nostalgic, Chap Chatni is easy to make and if, like me, you totally avoid adding nasty food colors to your food, there is a simple tip for that too!

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Chap Chatni~ Sweet Tamarind Dip

A simple tangy and sweet Tamarind dip or chutney!

Ingredients

• ½ cup packed Tamarind
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 tbsp Jaggery
• 1 small Beetroot or Red food color
• ½ tsp Ghee
• Salt as per taste
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• A pinch of Roasted cumin powder and Amchoor (Optional)
• 1 and half cup of water

Method

1. Pick Tamarind, remove seeds and hard shells/fibres, if any!
2. Rinse a few times with water and soak tamarind in a cup of hot water for 30 minutes.
3. Mash soaked tamarind with back of a spoon.
4. Rinse and peel beetroot and cut it into 2/4 chunks.
5. In a pan, add ¼ tsp of Ghee and allow it to melt.
6. Add the soaked tamarind along with the water and beetroot chunks and add the remaining half cup of water. Bring it to a boil.
7. Lower the flame and keep mashing tamarind with the back of ladle or use a pavbhaji masher. Avoid mashing beetroot.
8. Add sugar and jaggery and continue cooking, mashing and mixing the contents. We do not want a complete paste but a little chunkier consistency. Remove beetroot at this stage.
9. If using food color then add it at this stage. The chatni is ideally deep red in color so you can use the food color accordingly. I didn't add any food color.
10. As soon as you can see some glaze (10-15 minutes of cooking ), add a little of salt and chilli powder. You can add a pinch of roasted cumin powder and amchoor too for that extra spicy kick.
11. The Chap Chatni was had as it is, but it could be relished as a dip with pakode or as slathered on bread.
12. If you want the dip to me more tangy and less sweet, then reduce the quantities of sugar/jaggery.

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