Mint chutney

In a wonderful store in Assonet, Massachusetts, that specializes in rare and used cookbooks, I found a book humbly titled Indian Cooking, by Savitri Chowdhary, published in London in 1954. There's an abundance of mint in my herb garden at the moment, so this recipe caught my eye as I paged through the book. The author's charming measuring system leaves much to the cook's discretion. Serves 5.

6 medium-sized spring onions
1 teacupful ready-to-use mint
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 medium-sized minced green chiles or 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 Tbsp dried pomegranate seeds (anardana)
1 dessertspoonful ground mango or 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Wash the onions, throwing away only the tough green leaves. Wash the mint under running water, and mince these two things and the fresh green chiles together. Put them in a mortar, add salt, sugar and garam masala and crush for several minutes with the pestle. Take out and place aside on a plate. Sort and rinse the dried pomegranate seeds, and crush them in the mortar separately, then put the half-prepared chutney back in the mortar and crush and mix thoroughly. Lastly add the ground mango or lemon juice and mix once again. Transfer to a glass dish and serve.

Mint chutney will keep for a day or two, but is tastier when freshly made.