Nepali Cucumber Chutney – Super easy to make and compellingly delicious, this chutney/salad instantly warmed us and charmed us as soon as it was served.
Yes, Chutney. Despite the fact that there is no grinding involved like a chutney we are familiar with.
I find myself drawn to simple, freshly made foods like this time and again. I knew I had to get the recipe from Saraswathi, the Nepali cook in Dubai, when we visited two years back. On that day, she was craving to eat some home style food. So, she made it for all of us and served it proudly with a warm Nepali smile.
“Up in the mountains, since the weather is cold all year round, we use sesame seeds generously to keep the body warm” she said, sensing a question coming about the ingredients that go in it.
Sesame seeds are a must eat thermogenic (which produces heat) food for winter. Check out other sesame seed recipes like Nuvvula Avise Ginjala Podi | Andhra style Roasted sesame and flax seeds powder and Ellu Unde
Remove ends of cucumber
When prepping Cucumbers, make sure to remove the ends and rub the slices over the ends to cut out all the bitterness. The expelled white goo – Cucurbitacin (a biochemical compound found in some plants like Cucumber, pumpkins and gourds), concentrations of which are high at the ends of the cucumber, so chopping off those ends is necessary.
Note
Before I hear that this salad has no Nepali ingredients, I must say that I have used whatever I had at hand to make it – byadagi chillies and sesame oil. Next time, I will try making it more authentic by using kashmiri red chillies, sichuan pepper and mustard oil
Some of my other favorite condiments that you might like Amla Murabba
Super easy and tasty Nepali Cucumber Chutney (salad)
| makes about 1-1/2 cups
- 3 dark green english cucumbers finely chopped
- 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
- 5 red chillies (I used Byadagi)
- lemon juice to taste
- cilantro or coriander leaves for garnish
- salt
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
- 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds/methi coarsely crushed
-
Dry roast black sesame seeds and red chillies separately till the sesame seeds begin to pop out
-
grind to a coarse powder when cooled
-
Before finely chopping the cucumber, Slice the ends of the cucumber. Rub the chopped slices over the ends until the white secretion is removed. This helps is removing all the bitterness of the cucumber.
combine finely chopped cucumber, 1 tsp sesame seeds powder and lemon juice and salt to taste
-
For tempering, heat oil in a tadka pan. Add jeera and coarsely crushed methi and let the jeera sizzle and methi seeds fragrant
-
Pour over the chutney and give it a good mix
-
garnish with cilantro
-
serve fresh with chapathi or roti or as is as a side
Can use kashmiri chillies
Can add sichuan pepper if you have
Use mustard oil for seasoning if you have
store the extra leftover sesame seeds powder and use later
if you are using regular Indian cucumbers, peel and remove seeds before finely chopping
Leave a Reply