Bengali tomato chutney recipe with khejur, aamsotto and kismish

Bengali tomato chutney recipe with khejur aamsotto and kismish – a sweet homemade Bengali jelly made with tomato, dates, aam papad, and raisins, with sugar & flavourful bengali spices. This is one of the most traditional and delectable Bengali style chutneys which we basically make at home on special occasions or in Bengali festivals. This Bengali style tomato chutney is most famous in West Bengal aka Kolkata and Bangladesh served last at Bengali lunch with papar bhaja(papad) or served with Bhoger khichuri and Labra recipe on any Puja.

We(Bong) have two types of tomato chutney recipes, one is common and only made with tomatoes, and the other one is special, made with tomato and sweet dry fruits like dates, aam papad /mango leather, and raisins. Today I made the second type of tomato chutney recipe. For making both of these tomato chutneys we need perfectly ripened tomatoes, sugar, bengali five spice (panch phoron), and freshly chopped ginger. Bengali five spice is a must used ingredient in this chutney as this spice is the key ingredient which brings the Bengali flavour.

I have seen my mom used to prepare this chutney (we called “khejur aamsotto kishmish diye tomator chutney”) on the day of mahaashtumi or when some guests are invited to our home for lunch. Mom used to soak chopped khejur(deseeded), chopped aamsotto and whole kishmish in hot water before starts cooking the chutney. Mom says with this hot water-soaking method khejur and aamsotto quickly get soft and kishmish gets quickly swollen in less time and also takes less time to cook. She adds them into the pan once the tomato gets soft, and cooks with sugar. Though my recipe looks quite different, however, the basic ideas belong to my Mom.

For making this tomato chutney, the tomatoes must be sauteed well (in oil) until they are soft and have no raw smell. If the raw smell exists then cook until the raw smell goes off and then add water. Otherwise, that raw smell spoils the taste of the chutney. 

As chutney is easy to cook same as this is easy to store. You can easily store it for a long time (more than one week). Preserve in an airtight food container, though must keep it in the refrigerator.

Try this recipe at home and hope my step by step recipe guide (with pictures) will help you to make it perfectly. Relish it and please write your feedback about this recipe in the comment section below.

Bengali tomato chutney recipe with khejur, aamsotto and kismish

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Served in: 30 mins

Course: chutney

Cuisine: Bengali (Indian), Bangladeshi

Served for: 7-8 people

Author: Moumita

Ingredients list

• 1+1/2 cup Tomatoes (cut into pieces)
• 1/2 cup khejur or dates(pitted dates, chopped)
• 1/2 cup aamsotto or aam papad or mango leather(cut into diced)
• A handful of kismish or raisins
• 1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp bengali five spice or panch phoran
• 1 dry whole red chilli
• 1/2 cup water
• salt(as required)
• 1 tbsp mustard oil

Utensils /Kitchen tools need

Deep pan/wok (iron pan/non stick pan)

Stainless steel spatula 

How to make bengali tomato chutney recipe (with khejur, aamsotto and kismish) with step by step pictures

Instructions

• First, thoroughly wash and cut the tomatoes into pieces.
• Cut the pitted(seedless) dates and cut the aamsotto or aam papad into cubes. That keeps aside.
• Then take a pan, place it on medium heat, add mustard oil and make it hot.
• Add 1 dry red chilli (broken in two pieces) and bengali five spice or panch phoran to the oil.

• let the spices crackle, then add chopped tomatoes to the pan, and stir them well.

• Then add finely chopped ginger and mix well with tomatoes.

• Now add chopped khejur or dates to the pan. Cut the dates as shown in the pic.

• Then saute the tomato and dates for 2-3 mins with 1/2 tsp of salt, and mix them well.

• Cover the pan with a lid for 2-3 minutes, slow down the flame and cook until the tomatoes and dates are soft.
• Salt will help to release water from both tomatoes and dates and will make them soft so quickly.

• After 3 mins, remove the lid and add turmeric powder to it. Stir it well.

• Then add kismish to the pan which I already soaked in water for 10-15 mins. Mix it together.

• You should cut the aamsotto or mango leather in cubes as shown in the pic.

• Now add aamsotto or aam papad to the pan. Mix all the ingredients together and saute it for 2-3 mins.

• Then add water to it and bring it to a boil.
• Cover its lid till all the ingredients are perfectly cooked.

• Then remove the lid and add sugar to this mixture, stir it well.

• Let the sugar melt down and cook it until sugar is completely incorporated with all the ingredients or wait until get a thick gravy.

• However, I personally prefer a little thicker consistency of my tomato chutney as it helps me to store the chutney for a little longer.

• “Bengali tomato khejur aamsotto kismish diye chutney” is ready, completely cool it down before serving.
• Serve it with khichuri and labra or serve it at last of any Bengali meal with papad.

Tips

For making a good tomato chutney, use red and perfectly ripe fresh tomatoes. You can use cherry tomatoes or canned tomatoes too.

Try to avoid those tomatoes that have a slight green texture or yellow texture as those are hard, still raw and sour in taste, take so much time to get soft. 

Don’t add sugar till all the ingredients are not properly cooked, otherwise, sugar will not let them cook and can not get the exact texture and taste of this sweet chutney.

The addition of sugar and salt is up to you as it depends on the quantity of the ingredients and your taste.

Even if you can use jaggery instead of sugar, though quantity of jaggery will be a little more than sugar.

You can even use aloo bukhara (dried plum) in this chutney too.

After covering the pan, must check it frequently to avoid burning from the bottom.

Bengali five spice (Panch phoron) has five ingredients, cumin seeds (jeera), fennel seeds (mouri), nigella seeds (kalo jeera), fenugreek seeds (methi), mustard seeds (shorshe) or celery seeds(radhuni). So if you don’t have panch phoron in your kitchen, but separately have these five spices. Then take each seed 1/2 tsp from the above list and mix it together and it’s ready to use in your tomato chutney.

Instead of five spice, you can use only nigella seeds too.