By Samin Nosrat
- Total Time
- About 15 minutes
- Rating
- 5(278)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Inspired by two classic Parsi recipes from the chef and anthropologist Niloufer Ichaporia King, this sauce introduces the toasted cumin and medjool dates from her date and tamarind chutney into her classic green chutney, full of fresh ginger, jalapeño and lime. The ginger and the sweetness of the dates echo many of the flavors already present on the Thanksgiving table, and the cilantro, chiles and lime bring a much welcome vividness. It’s a delight! This sauce is also fantastic on leftover turkey sandwiches, and, other times of year, it makes for a great condiment on rice, fish, chicken and vegetable dishes alike.
Featured in: How to Make Your Thanksgiving Dinner Less Boring
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Ingredients
Yield:1½ cups
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- 10medjool dates, pitted
- ⅓cup freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste (from 2 to 3 limes)
- 2jalapeños, stemmed and thinly sliced (remove seeds if desired for a milder sauce)
- 1tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 6garlic cloves, finely grated
- 1teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 4cups loosely packed cilantro leaves and tender stems (from about 2 large bunches)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
187 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 41 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 252 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place cumin in a small skillet and set over medium-high heat. Toast for 2 to 3 minutes, or until seeds just begin to change color and emit a faint aroma. Immediately dump seeds into a spice grinder or mortar, and grind to a powder.
Step
2
Place dates, lime juice, jalapeños, ginger, garlic, salt and cumin into the bowl of a food processor and pulse, stopping periodically to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. Try to get this mixture as uniformly puréed as possible, though a little texture is fine.
Step
3
Add the cilantro and continue to pulse to break it down. Then, add as little water as possible — about a tablespoon — to get the blades moving and turn the mixture into the sauce. Continue scraping the sides and pulsing until no large bits of stem or leaf remain and the sauce is a lovely, almost-but-not-quite-smooth texture. Taste, and add lime juice and salt as needed. Cover and refrigerate until serving. This sauce will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- This sauce can be made up to 1 day in advance.
Ratings
5
out of 5
278
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Cooking Notes
Prakash Nadkarni
A quick culture/history refresher: Parsis are Zoroastrians who originally fled Persia after the Arab Conquest and settled on India's west coast (initially, Gujarat state: most now live in Mumbai). Well-known Parsis include Freddie Mercury of Queen (originally Farrokh Balsara), conductor Zubin Mehta, and Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard, co-creator of the Implicit Association Test.Parsi cuisine is one of India's great sub-cuisines, possibly the most friendly to meat-eating Western cultures.
Prakash Nadkarni
The recipe will work well with parsley, mint, or a combination.
Prakash Nadkarni
Ms. King's "My Bombay Kitchen" (U.Cal. Press) is a very good book on Parsi cooking: Jeroo Mehta's "101 Parsi Dishes" (also in Kindle format) is even better. The two recipes Ms. Nosrat cites, however, are widespread throughout North and West India (Parsis adopted them from Gujarati cuisine). See indianhealthyrecipes.com/tamarind-chutney ("jaggery"=raw brown sugar; regular's OK) and vegrecipesofindia.com/coriander-chutney. Ms. Nosrat's fusion is interesting, though I like the two separate.
Jas
I could be wrong but it may be because a single garlic clove in the US is probably equal to 2-3 of the garlic cloves in India. Try 1/3 of what the recipe calls for and go up from there.
Padmaja Patkar
You can also soak the dates in little water for half an hour to one hour. It make blending them easier.
Alessandra
Great combination of flavors. Next time I'll reduce the garlic -- I do love garlic but it dominated in a way that didn't work out. Definitely agree that Thanksgiving could use some spice!
Prakash Nadkarni
@jas - RE: size of garlic cloves - you're absolutely right; the garlic varieties grown in India have much smaller cloves than the colossal garlic you get at Costco; recipes written for Indian audiences will typically specify garlic by measures other than number of cloves. See, for example hebbarskitchen.com/dry-garlic-chutney-recipe-dry-garlic/ (When, after coming to the US, I first saw Marcella Hazan's recipes, which called for a solitary garlic clove, I thought she was nuts.)
Dan
Definitely consider 1 jalapeño over 2 especially if serving westerners - served this at thanksgiving with two peppers and my in laws could barely taste it it was so spicy. I love spice so I was happy to have this spicy treat all to myself - also makes an amazing topper to a breakfast sandwich for the ages!
Mikko
Loved the flavors in this recipe. Bright with a mild sweetness from the dates, balanced by the acidity of the lime juice. It all comes together to support the cilantro and keep it the star. We participated in the holiday in a new way this year. Celebrating foods from other cultures instead of the usual turkey, cranberries, stuffing. We made Samosas from the book, "In Bibi's Kitchen". This chutney was the perfect compliment.
Kelly C-R
This is absolutely the most delicious thing ever. I could eat it every day.
Matt Smith
Thank you for the great recipe!
Laura O
Great flavors! Used date syrup instead, added homemade breadcrumbs I had on hand, and then mixed all in a pound of impossible burger for meatballs. Fantastic hot or cold
Colleen Trang
I made this for a holiday party and it was a banger! So so delicious. I will be making a lot more.
becky
Liz loves this
Gurukaram
Made this with 1 large Serrano chile that I seeded and de-ribbed, 10 soft fresh Barhi dates (smaller than medjools and super soft) and no garlic.( I try to avoid garlic and don’t cook with it). Everything else was per the recipe. It was delicious!!! Super easy and soooo good!
Kate
If it's available, try adding some pomegranate molasses.
Lisa
What would happen if I froze half the recipe for later use? Would it be ruined?
Noelle
So delicious! We loved it with Thanksgiving turkey and are going to love it with Christmas ham (and Easter lamb and…)
Valerie S. Androutsopoulos
How do you serve this? As a sauce on turkey? Or is it / can it be a dip?
Lisa
We would normally present it as a condiment at the table served in a small-ish dish. Folks can then spoon it on the turkey and whatever else they are inspired to try it on.
SGS
"This is...", and I'm quoting a Thanksgiving guest,"the bomb!"
Mikko
Loved the flavors in this recipe. Bright with a mild sweetness from the dates, balanced by the acidity of the lime juice. It all comes together to support the cilantro and keep it the star. We participated in the holiday in a new way this year. Celebrating foods from other cultures instead of the usual turkey, cranberries, stuffing. We made Samosas from the book, "In Bibi's Kitchen". This chutney was the perfect compliment.
roundlake
This was a great addition to our Thanksgiving table. I reduced the amount of garlic because my cloves were large, and soaked the dates to soften, otherwise made it just as written. Will definitely use again.
Mukund Sibi
Made this for thanksgiving as per the directions. A big hit. Nice combination of sweet and spice.
Dan
Definitely consider 1 jalapeño over 2 especially if serving westerners - served this at thanksgiving with two peppers and my in laws could barely taste it it was so spicy. I love spice so I was happy to have this spicy treat all to myself - also makes an amazing topper to a breakfast sandwich for the ages!
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