You walk into a restaurant serving Indian food, you’ll surely find Chutney and Aachar on the table. These are the two life-saving inventions of the Indians which helps them to eat anything, ANYTHING ! These Peppy Aachar and Chutneys have the ability to transform your food and take it to the next level. Not only in restaurants, aachars and chutneys are an integral of the Indian kitchen and always finds its way into the monthly grocery purchase list. The folks in the cities purchase the ready made aachars while the people in smaller towns and villages have the luxury of making aachars. While chutneys are quick and most of them prepare it freshly at home.
India being such a vast country with different cultures, the food varies a lot and so does the Aachar and Chutney. From sarson based peppy chutneys in the north, to the tangy Mango Aachar Chundo in Gujarat and the hot red chilly chutney in Maharashtra (the one they serve with Vada Pav, I don’t k ow the name, if you do please lemme know :)) And as you enter the southern regions, coconut starts making it sway in chutneys. You get the standard Narial chutney in most states and the Palli-Narial (groundnut and coconut) chutney in Andhra and Telangana. After staying at so many places, this Banjara is now put up at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
I can and will undoubtedly proclaim that the Hyderabadis are the masters of Chutneys. These can make chutney from virtually anything. The use a lot of peanut, so you’ll find a lot of it The chutneys they serve with Idli and Dosa. Apart from this, these guys have chutney with every meal. Now you would be wondering what’s so great about it, even I eat chutney. Ok, you do. But do you eat cucumber chutney ? No you don’t ! These guys make cucumber chutney. Not only cucumber, but carrot, tomato and virtually any vegetable you can think of. And the best part is you don’t even realize what chutney you are eating ! All chutneys would be so tangy and spicy that you will never be able find the reach ingredient until unless you ask the chef. Be it rice sambhar, or rice rasam these peppy chutneys are always on your platter. I’ve eaten so many meals in Hyderabad, but haven’t tried all the different species of Chutneys that the Hyderabadis have.
Aachars and Chutneys add the dash of spiciness and ‘tanginess’ in your food which has the potential of masking the taste of anything you eat. So be it the Aam Aachar or Red Chilli pickle, the coconut chutney or Coriander chutney, these peppy aachars and chutneys are the signature dishes from India and relished by one and all.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.