On this page I’m going to show you how to make the most common Indian chutney recipes: green chutney, sweet chutney with tamarind and dates and garlic chutney. They are essentials for a lot of Indian snacks. More chutneys will follow over time.
Used in many different Indian snacks, having these chutneys frozen at home is very useful. While these snacks are often eaten as in-between meals, mostly in the late afternoon/early evening, lots of them make great starters to a meal. It is not common to serve them as starters in India, but with Western eyes that works great.
Especially in street food chutneys play a big role. Learn more about Mumbai street food, also known as chaat, with my overview.
Green chutney recipe with mint, coriander and chilies
The most common chutney (aside from South Indian coconut chutney) is the green chutney. It is quite spicy, so adjust the spice level according to your liking. But keep it a bit spicy. You won’t use lots of it with your snacks, rather little is used.
What I suggest, since it’s anyways only prepared in one step in the blender: use one chili first, blend it and then taste it. If you feel like adding more, you can easily do so and blend it again.
Along with the recipe for sweet chutney, one of the ingredients for the recipe for Sev Puri, a great vegan, Mumbai street food snack.
Recipe for green chutney
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp water
- ½ cup coriander leaves
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- 2 green chilies
- 2 garlic cloves small-medium sized
- juice of ½ lime
- black salt to taste, can be replaced by regular salt
Instructions
- Grind all ingredients together in a blender until is a smooth paste.
- Put it in a closed container, that way it keeps it's bright green color longer.
- It can be stored for 3-4 days in the fridge or a few months frozen.
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Sweet chutney recipe with dates and tamarind
The sweet chutney is almost as common as the green one and often you’ll find them eaten together. While it has a little bit of chili, it is actually not spicy.
It stays longer in the fridge as the green chutney, since the sweet chutney recipe requires you to boil it. When you freeze it, it doesn’t harden like ice. It stays soft, so you can freeze it in a larger quantity and still take out spoons of chutney without defrosting it.
Recipe for sweet chutney
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates pitted
- 2 Tbsp tamarind pulp or 1 Tbsp of tamarind
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ cup jaggery
- ½ tsp fennel powder
- 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp black salt
- 1 ½ cup water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Boil the tamarind and dates in water for 3-4 minutes and let it cool.
- Grind it together with a cup of water.
- Heat it in a pan on medium heat and add another ½ cup of water.
- Add the jaggery, broken into small pieces, the spices and the salt.
- Mix it well and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes, until it is thickened. Then let it cool down.
- It stays in the fridge for at about a week. Or you can freeze it for a few months. The frozen chutney does not get fully hard when frozen, it stays soft. So fill it in a box, you can easily take out single spoons of chutney.
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The Garlic chutney recipe
Garlic chutney stands out a bit from the other two, since it is actually a dry chutney. No water is added to the recipe. Also, you will find it being used in less recipes.
I have actually never made it before until now (it turned out quite well though 🙂), therefore I have no experience on how long it lasts. Others say that in an airtight container it lasts for 2 weeks in the fridge, in the freezer longer.
But I have my doubts that it is suitable for freezing.
Dry garlic chutney
Ingredients
- ½ cup garlic cloves chopped coarsley
- 2 Tbsp coconut grated
- 2 Tbsp groundnut roasted
- ½ Tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp red chili powder
- 1 Tbsp oil
- salt
Instructions
- Heat up the oil and fry the coarsley chopped garlic for 2 minutes on low heat.
- Add the coconut, groundnut and coriander seeds.
- Fry the mix for 3-4 minutes and add salt and chili powder. Add the chili powder on top (avoid putting some on the bottom of the pan) and stir well, prevent it from burning.
- Now crush it with a mortar until you have a coarse mixture.
- Spread it on a plate and let it cool down. It should be a relatively dry mixture. Most people will think of chutneys as sauces. This one is supposed to be dry!
Please rate my recipe before you leave 🙂:
My source for the Indian chutney recipes: http://www.flavorsofmumbai.com/vada-pav-recipe/.
Cooked with lots of love ♥ on From zero to curry.
2 thoughts on “Indian Chutney recipes”
I’m not sure how exactly but I think if you grind the garlic chutney ingredients with water, the resultant garlic chutney can also be used in chaat. Some vendors use garlic chutney as well. Thanks for the recipe.
not sure if I understand what you mean – that’s a way to make a moist garlic chutney?
Thanks for your review!