Homemade Peanut Butter, Indian Style

Among the many advantages of making peanut butter at home is the advantage of adaptability. Texture, fluidity, add-on ingredients – all in your hands.

In this Indian-style homemade peanut butter, we make the most of this advantage. With spices and tamarind, and the flavor of sesame, the classic peanut butter gets an unusual styling.

Till a month back, my chutney grinder had churned peanut powder often enough for curries, but peanut butter was unknown terrain. And then I read this post on Pinch Of Yum. Incredibly, all it takes to go from peanut powder to peanut butter is prolonged churning. It’s so ridiculously easy that there is no good reason to buy peanut butter from stores.

The last few weeks for me have been a time of peanut butter experimentation. From plain, honey-flavored, sesame-spiked to chili-spiced – I tried them all. Sharing this one peanut butter recipe with you that goes well with a variety of dishes. Spread it on toast, dip parathas into it, or have it on the side with rice and dal. Indian-style peanut butter is super-good.

You Need:

[for 1 cup of peanut butter]

• Plain unsalted peanuts – 1.25 cups
• Sesame seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Dry red chilies – 5 (adjust to taste)
• Dry tamarind – penny-sized piece
• Jaggery powder – 1 tablespoon [buy on Amazon]
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – a pinch
• Peanut or sesame oil – for thinning (optional)

How To Make Peanut Butter:

Dry roast a cup of peanuts in a thick-bottomed kadhai or skillet, on low heat, till the peanuts turn dark and give off a roasted aroma. Keep moving the peanuts around while they roast, to make sure there’s no blackening. This should take about 8-10 minutes.

Set the roasted peanuts aside when done.

Separately, dry roast the red chilies and cumin seeds on low heat. When the chilies turn a shade darker, add a tablespoon of sesame seeds to the same pan. Continue to roast till the sesame seeds turn golden.

Set the roasted ingredients aside to cool to room temperature.

In a food processor or chutney grinder, place the roasted peanuts, tamarind, sesame seeds, dry red chilies and cumin seeds.

Grind the ingredients for a minute.

This is what it looks like after a minute in my grinder:

Add jaggery and salt to taste. If you want thinner butter, add peanut or sesame oil at this stage [I haven’t added any]. Grind again.

You may have to open the lid every half minute to pry out the ground peanut sticking to the sides of the grinder. And then grind again.

Continue till you get creamy smooth peanut butter. This will take about 4 minutes.

Transfer peanut butter to a jam/chutney jar and store in a cool dry place. Stays good at room temperate for a couple of days (possibly more, but I usually finish this much in 4-5 days.) Refrigerate if you want it to stay good longer.

Serve homemade peanut butter with any meal. Some ideas: on toast for breakfast, as nacho dip at teatime, or on the side with lunch and dinner.

Notes:

I don’t skin the peanuts after roasting. You could skin them if you want – this will give you a slightly different taste and a lighter-colored peanut butter.

The color of the jaggery also affects the color of the peanut butter. I use 24 Mantra Organic jaggery powder, which is a dark brown.

Do more with peanuts! Throw in a handful raw while cooking Gujarati dal, stir fry them with vegetables and millets, roast and make chutney out of them, or give them starring role in peanut chaat.

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