If you love peanuts, this Andhra style peanut chutney is for you. Creamy and finger-licking good, this groundnut chutney is a perfect accompaniment to piping hot idlis, vadas or dosas.
Add a tablespoon of peanut oil in a pan kept over medium heat.
Add garlic cloves, peanuts, and chopped green chilies. Saute them for about 5 minutes till the peanuts have evenly browned.
Grind this peanut mixture along with seedless tamarind [see note], salt and water to a coarse paste. Set it aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the same pan and set it on medium heat.
When the oil heats up, add cumin and mustard seeds and when they start to crackle, add urad dal, byadgi chilies, asafoetida, and curry leaves.
Fry them for about 10 -15 seconds and take the pan off heat.
Pour the tempering to the ground peanut paste and mix well.
Serve it immediately with idlis/dosas or refrigerate up to 7 days.
Notes
Tips
I prefer using wet seedless tamarind since I can grind them directly but if you are using the dried tamarind, take chunks of it about the size of a quarter from the package. Soak it in 1/2 cup hot water for about 10 minutes before use.
You can also substitute seedless tamarind with 1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste.
It is hard to predict how tangy the tamarind juice will be, so always add 1/2 of the tamarind juice first, do a taste test and add the remaining.
If you are using juice from tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup of water, you may not need additional water to grind the chutney.
Variations
Peanuts with skin have so much flavor and are more nutritious than the ones without. You could substitute them with ones without skin if you don't have them in your pantry.
Dry roasting the peanuts/groundnuts is also an option if you don't want to use oil.
To make peanut chutney with onion, add 1/4 cup chopped onions and saute it along with garlic. Grind it with the rest of the ingredients.