Chutney

Chutney is a traditional Indian relish-sauce of fruit, vegetables, or herbs — fresh, or cooked with spices, sugar, and an acid (vinegar, lemon juice, or tamarind) to a thick consistency. It is a vivid burst of flavour combining sweet, sour, spicy, and aromatic all at once, and is an inseparable part of the Indian meal.

There are countless kinds of chutney — from liquid sauces to thick jam-like masses and even fresh uncooked pastes. The most varied products serve as the base: mango (the classic mango chutney), apples, tomatoes, onion, mint, coriander, tamarind, dates. To them a whole bouquet of spices is added — ginger, garlic, chilli, mustard seeds, cumin, cloves — as well as sugar and vinegar, which at once preserve the sauce and create the characteristic sweet-sour balance. Cooked chutneys for long keeping somewhat resemble European fruit jams, but with a spicy, aromatic profile. Chutney is served as an accompaniment to main dishes: with rice, naan flatbreads and papad, with fried meat, fish, samosa and pakora snacks, and with cheese. It refreshes the palate and adds depth and contrast to dishes. Chutney is one of the hallmarks of flavour-rich Indian cuisine.