Chutney

This article is about the condiment. For the music native to Trinidad and Tobago, see Chutney music.

Chutney

Alternative names	For Indian versions see Chatni
Region or state	Europe
Main ingredients	seasonings such as salt, spices and herbs, and vegetables/fruits such as chilies, Damsons, Plums, tomatoes, apple, Pear, onion, garlic, Fig, etc.
Cookbook: Chutney   Media: Chutney

Chutney refers to a wide-ranging family of condiments from South Asian cuisine and Indian cuisine that usually contain some mixture of spice(s) and vegetable(s) and/or fruit(s). There are many varieties of chutney. Chutneys may be either wet or dry, and they can have a coarse to a fine texture. The Anglo-Indian loan word refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately, with preserves often sweetened. Several Northern Indian languages use the word for fresh preparations only. A different word achār (Hindi: अचार) applies to preserves that often contain oil and are rarely sweet. Vinegar or citrus juice may be added as natural preservatives, or fermentation in the presence of salt may be used to create acid. In the past, chutneys were ground with a mortar and pestle made of stone or an ammikkal (Tamil). Spices are added and ground, usually in a particular order; the wet paste thus made is sauteed in vegetable oil, usually gingelly or peanut (groundnut) oil. In the present era, electric blenders or food processors can be used as labor-saving alternatives to the traditional stone grinding

Types of chutney

A virtually limitless number of chutneys can be made from almost any combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Chutneys are usually grouped into either sweet or hot forms; both forms usually contain spices, including chili, but differ by their main flavours. Chutney types and their preparations vary widely across Pakistan and India.

Types of chutneys:

• Coriander (cilantro)
• Mint chutney (coriander and mint chutneys are often called hari chutney, where hari is Hindi for "green")
• Tamarind chutney or Imli chutney (often called meethi chutney, as meethi in Hindi means "sweet")
• Sooth (or saunth) chutney, made with dates and ginger
• Coconut chutney
• Onion chutney
• Prune chutney
• Tomato chutney
• Red chili chutney
• Green chili chutney
• Sooth chutney
• Mango chutney (made from raw, green mangoes)
• Lime chutney (made from whole, unripe limes)
• Garlic chutney made from fresh garlic, coconut and groundnut
• Dahi chutney
• Green tomato chutney (common English recipes use up unripe tomatoes)
• Dhaniya pudina chutney (cilantro and mint leaves chutney)
• Peanut chutney (shengdana chutney in Marathi)
• Ginger chutney (mostly used in Tamil cuisine and Udupi cuisine to be eaten with dosa)
• Yogurt chutney, may be as simple as mixing yogurt, red chili powder, and salt, eaten with a variety of foods
• Tomato onion chutney
• Cilantro mint coconut chutney
• Blatjang, used in South African cuisine, is a sweet chutney usually made with apricots.
• Major Grey's Chutney is a type of sweet and spicy chutney popular in the United Kingdom and the United States. The recipe was reputedly created by a 19th century British Army officer of the same name (likely apocryphal) who presumably lived in Colonial India. Its characteristic ingredients are mango, raisins, vinegar, lime juice, onion, tamarind extract, sweetening and spices. Several companies produce a Major Grey's Chutney, in the UK, the US, and India.

American- and European-style chutneys are usually fruit, vinegar and sugar, cooked down to a reduction. Flavorings are always added to the mix. These may include sugar, salt, garlic, tamarind, onion, or ginger.

Spices most commonly used in chutneys include fenugreek, coriander, cumin and asafoetida (hing).

Etymology

The word "chutney" is derived from the Sanskrit word caṭnī, meaning to lick. The first Chutneys that arrived in India would have been sticky fruit based preseves, Sugar although available in India was not widely cultivated and Honey would have been used to sweeten dishes, this leading to the Chutneys being used as more of a dipping sauce rather than a Condiment. It is written differently in several Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages (Gujarati: ચટણી, Marathi: चटणी, [காரத் துவையல் karathuvaiyal] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help), Kannada: ಚಟ್ನಿ, Hindi: चटनी, Urdu: چٹنی, Malayalam: ചമ്മന്തി, Telugu: పచ్చడి, Bengali :চাটনী).

History

Dakshin chutneys

Chutneys

Mango chutney

Simple tomato chutney

Eggplant and lemon chutneys from Goa

Similar in preparation and usage to a pickle, simple spiced chutneys can be dated as far back as 500BC. Originating in Northern Europe, this method of preserving food was subsequently adopted by the Romans and later British empires, who then started exporting this to the colonies, Australia and America.

As greater imports of foreign and varied foods increasing into Northern Europe the chutney fell out of favour. This combined with a greater ability to refrigerate fresh foods and an increasing amount of glasshouses meant chutney and pickle were relegated to military and colonial use.

Diego Álvarez Chanca brought back chili peppers from the Americas. After discovering their medicinal properties, Chanca developed a chutney to administer them. This coincided with the British Royal Navy's use of a lime pickle or chutney to ward off scurvy on journeys to the new world.

In the late 15th and early 16th century, British colonization of the Indian subcontinent relied on preserved food stuffs such as lime pickles, chutneys and marmalades. (Marmalades proving unpopular due their tartness and a lack of available sugar.)

Beginning in the 17th century, chutneys were shipped to European countries like England and France as luxury goods. Western imitations were called "mangoed" fruits or vegetables, the word 'chutney' still being associated with the lower working classes.

In the 19th century, brands of chutney like Major Grey's or Bengal Club created for Western tastes were shipped to Europe.

Generally these chutneys are fruit, vinegar, and sugar cooked down to a reduction.

The tradition of chutney making spread through the English speaking world, especially in the Caribbean and American South where chutney is still a popular condiment for ham, pork, and fish.

Chutney by Indian region

• Assam: coriander, spinach, tomato, curry leaf, chilli, radish, carrot, cucumber, beetroot, lentil, chickpea and ghost chilli chutneys
• Andhra Pradesh: coconut, coriander, red chilli with grams (chana), tomato, onion, peanut, lemon, curry leaf, tamarind, green chilli, ginger, mint, and mango chutneys
• Gujarat: hot lime chutneys, garlic chutney
• Haryana: tamarind chutney
• Himachal Pradesh: guava and eggplant chutneys
• Karnataka: coconut, peanut, tomato, tamarind, mango, urad dal (a kind of legume), pudina (mint), heeray kayi (ridge gourd), uchellu (Niger seed), bende kaayi (okra or ladyfinger), and ginger
• Kerala: coconut, pudina, urad dal, mango, dry fish, shrimp, and onion chutney
• Maharashtra: hot raw mango chutney, guramba, panchamrit, mirachicha thecha: dry chutneys made with javas (flax seed), solapuri shenga (peanut)/red chili powder chutney, karale (Niger seed) and peanut/garlic lasun chutney, dudhi roasted(bottle gourd) skin chutney
• Orissa: coconut, mango, orange, tomato, and dry dried fish chutneys
• Punjab: pudina (mint) chutney, onion chutney, tamarind chutney, mango chutney
• Tamil Nadu: coconut, coriander, curry leaf, red chilli, green chilli, tomato, onion, ginger, mint, mango, and lentil
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: coriander seed & leaf, garlic, onion, tomato, mint chutney, radish, amla, sweet and sour mango, green chili, red chili and jaggery chutneys
• West Bengal: lime, green mango, tomato, papaya, pineapple, date, dried mango jelly and other dry fruits, green chili chutneys

See also

• Indian pickle

References

• Weaver, William Woys. "Chutney." Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Ed. Solomon H. Katz. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 417-418. 3 vols. ISBN 0-684-80568-5