Tomato, Bell Pepper and Garlic Chutney

I recently got few heirloom tomatoes, couple of Fresno chilies, few tiny bell peppers. I was hoping for well growing healthy plants which would yield giant bell peppers and tons of fresnos when I planted my vegetable garden this spring. Creatures that own 'our' backyard had some other plans! squirrel ate all the pepper plants leaving just hard stems, birdies ate cilantro, basil, fenugreek and whatever they could. The only plants survived were tomato plants and mint. Later we built frames with wire net to keep these creatures out of my vegetable patch. Finally we started getting few tiny bell peppers, few stems of cilantro, garlic leaves, tomatoes! This year I decided not to harvest the almonds from trees in the backyard because I wanted save my vegetable patch for myself and let them eat the fresh nuts as many as they want. Something for me and something for me. I am happy and I hope they are happy too.



Tomatoes-bell peppers-garlic

Even though the name of the post is mouthful, the recipe is as simple as it can get -

Chutney

1 Bell pepper
1 Large tomato
4-5 Sprigs of garlic leaves
2 Small chilies (or per taste)
3-4 Cashews
10-12 Peanuts
1 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt per taste

Procedure -
Chop tomatoes, bell peppers and chilies in chunks. Chop garlic leaves in 1 inch pieces.
Heat oil in a small pan. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add garlic leaves let them wilt and add chopped peppers. Roast them on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Now add nuts and salt and roast for couple more minutes. Then add tomatoes and roast it till water evaporates almost completely.
Let the mixture cool down and grind coarsely. Adjust salt and enjoy with Adai, Idli, Pasarattu or with simple bread.

Tips -

1. I prefer using red bell pepper as I like that flavor the most. Even though the picture shows pieces of green pepper, the variety actually yields red peppers.
   
2. This is not very spicy chutney.
   
3. You can use almonds/pine nuts/sunflower seeds instead of cashews ad peanuts.
4. If you do not have garlic leaves you can use garlic chives or even a small clove of garlic.