Sounds intriguing, Right!
The very humble side of the meal plate , delightful to taste yet never been looked up as a Food for health, think again.
Traditionally, Why ever the chutneys was added to your plate, not for the most taste freak notorious ones but to provide you with ample vitamins minerals and probiotics. Its the perfect blend of taste, nutrients in your plate that helps are enriched in vitamins as well as helps in digestion.
If you have Protein deficiency - Add a Groundnut/ roasted Chana chutney to your daily Lunch. Add a few chilies, coriander leaves, little salt lemon juice and curry leaves to bowlful of Roasted Peanuts / Roasted Chana and grind with curd. you can have 1 spoon daily.
You feel Bloated and have Digestive issues - Coriander chutney with roasted cumin, asafoetida Lemon and black salt.
If you suffer from Iron deficiency Anemia- Make a Chutney with Pin Khajoor/ Indian Pin dates or Pin Palm, take a bowl full of soaked Pin Khajoor and make a very tasty chutney by adding cumin, Saunth (dried ginger powder), and black salt.
Also, a tomato Beetroot Chutney helps you with iron requirement
If you suffer from Regular cramps - Make a Pudina (mint Leaves) Chutney with little salt and green chili and lemon juice.
If you want your children to have good concentration and memory - Add a coconut + Soaked almonds chutney to their diet.
You suffer from high cholesterol- add a Garlic and coriander chutney to you diet, again make sure to make it with less salt.
Multivitamin Multimineral Chutney - Gongura is an excellent source of folate and a very good source of vitamin B6, both of which are needed to maintain low homocysteine levels. Apart from this, it is a rich source of iron, vitamin C, anti-oxidants, calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin A. So Like South Indians Assamese n Marathi enjoy Gongura Chutney.
If you need an immune booster, multivitamin and weight manage to Chutney, The Kerala Pineapple Pachhadi is your take.
You want to maintain a healthy Blood Count, Anjeer Chutney is your take.
If now and again you need to get on Probiotic sachet, a blend of slightly fermented onion and rye Chutney is your best bet.
For diabetics nothing like a Grated Radish (Mooli) Chutney.
To all the above you can add little turmeric, black Pepper, dry ginger powder to make them your Immune Boosters.
Feel free to share recipes of your favorite traditional forms of chutneys and I would let you know if they are worth more than the tablets in bottles. So let's proceed with the one warning that I need to give is that you need to adjust your palate to the Chutneys with little less salt, because the amount of salt that you may add regularly Prove to be harmful.
Be creative Go on and are delightful Chutneys, add the least required amount of salt, very few drops of oil for tadka where absolutely necessary and no sugar to your chutneys.
They are your new health pills to be popped… no no savored at each meal.