Ranjka is a north Karnataka specialty, the region where I come from. It is usually enjoyed with steaming hot rice mixed with a dollop of ghee or simply as an accompaniment to cool curd rice. But best known to be savored with the jowar(Sorghum) flat breads, jowar bhakri (jolada rotti). It is made with ripened fresh red chillies a.k.a byadgi chillies. Now, I couldnt find these here, so after a lot of running around various super markets, I finally substituted them with cayenne peppers. They have a much greater punch to be used for chutney, So I added a bell pepper to tone down the heat.
Ranjka – Red Chilli Chutney
Yield - Makes around 200gms
100 gms fresh red chillies
1 large red bell pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
half tsp hing/asafoetida
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp vegetable oil, any neutral one will do. I used sunflower oil
Method -
1. Heat the oil in a small pan until fuming. Keep aside to cool.
2. Split the red chillies and deseed them with a knife. You may keep the seeds intact of 1 chilli to make it extra spicy.
3. Chop the chillies and the bell pepper coarsely.
4. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds with asafoetida for about 2 mins on low to medium heat.
5. Grind the chillies, pepper, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida with lemon juice, salt into a paste. It need not be a smooth paste. Leave it slightly coarse.
6. Add the heated oil to the ground chutney. Adjust the salt as per your liking.
7. Serve with rotis, rice, parathas etc.
Storage – Can be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for upto 3 weeks.
NOTES –
You can eliminate the red bell pepper completely if you are ok with the spiciness of the chillies. I have used them to tone down the heat of the chillies because I could not find the indian variety of chillies here. If you choose to eliminate the bell pepper, reduce the amount of oil to 1 tbsp and lemon to 1.5 tbsp.
The amount of salt and lemon juice might vary depending on the variety of chillies used. Please adjust as per taste.
Storage – Can be stored in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for upto 3 weeks.
NOTES –
You can eliminate the red bell pepper completely if you are ok with the spiciness of the chillies. I have used them to tone down the heat of the chillies because I could not find the indian variety of chillies here. If you choose to eliminate the bell pepper, reduce the amount of oil to 1 tbsp and lemon to 1.5 tbsp.
The amount of salt and lemon juice might vary depending on the variety of chillies used. Please adjust as per taste.
Looks yum. I was searching for one with garlic but then I can add it. Love the colour you hav ehere.
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