Spicy carrot Chutney

[pritya]

Hey folks,
Here's a recipe of spicy carrot chutney, handpicked from our cookbook on Andhra vegetarian cuisine titled,"Cooking at Home with Pedatha." This recipe is an unusual way of enjoying carrots, as the mustard stuns your senses!

Ingredients:
Carrots: 3 large
Lemon juice: squeezed from two limes
oil:2 tsps
salt:
to taste

The tempering
mustard seeds:3/4 tsp
Fenugreek seeds:1/2 tsp
Asofoetida powder:3/4tsp

The paste
Red chillies 20-25(or less, depending on how adventurous you dare to be)
mustard seeds: 1/2 cup

Method:
Dice the carrots into 1/4 cm. bits. This should amount to 2 1/2 cups.

For the paste, soak the chillies and mustard in 1 cup of water for 3-4 hours.Alternately, soak for 1 hour in hot water. Strain and grind into a fine paste, using as little of the strained water as necessary.

In a wok, heat the oil for tempering. Pop the mustard and then add the fenugreek. Switch off the flame, and with the browning of the fenugreek, add the asofoetida.

Add the carrots, lemon juice, paste and salt.

Store in an air tight container.This chutney testes best after a day or two, when the mustard flavour has soaked in well. Stays fresh for weeks in the refrigerator.

Serve with curd rice, or as an accompaniment to a meal!!