Tangy tamarind chutney

A sour and spicy rather than sweet version of the traditional Indian sauce. Quick to make even when extracting your own paste from dried tamarind. Tomorrow I will post the dish to which this was an accompaniment. 

Makes: 1 -1½ cups
    

Ingredients 

Tamarind paste – ½ cup if extracted at home from dried tamarind, ¼ cup if using readymade tamarind paste

1 cup hot water (add another ¼ cup of water if using shop-bought paste)

2 tablespoons jaggery, grated or crumbled (if unavailable, use brown sugar)

1 teaspoon cumin powder

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp kala namak/black salt (use ordinary salt if preferred)

a pinch of chilli powder

Method
Place all the ingredients in a pan, mix well and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 mins, stirring frequently, until all the jaggery has dissolved and the mixture has thickened.