Culinary experts dive into the relevance of chutney in Indian meals and share some recipes

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If we were ever to document the sounds of the urban Indian kitchen, the churning of the mixer grinder would be synonymous with head-banging heavy rock metal. The sound of dry, raw, fresh ingredients being pitted in the arena with all their might eventually blend into a transcendental promise of good taste. In traditional setup, the sound would be led by grinding the ingredients on stone - crushed into pastes, letting out a tease of aroma that would translate into a curry or chutney.

The role of chutney in Indian cuisine is rather circumstantial before monumental. "Traditionally, chutneys were never cooked or stored but served fresh with every meal. It enhances the taste of the meal and contributes to overall nutrition with its raw ingredients when paired with meat, rice, tarkari or roti. In times when people couldn't afford a full meal, chutney helps add nutrition, taste and a wet element to moisten the bite," says Chef Kunal Kapur, defining chutney as a paste or puree that is ground together on a stone or mixer grinder.

Kokum chutney, a common side kick in Kokani Muslim food, acts as a palate cleanser says Mumtaz Kazi

With the advancement in our cuisine, Kapur explains, we started cooking the chutney to increase its shelf life. Examples include imli, lassan, mango, amchur, and apple. Raw chutneys like mint, thecha, or coconut have a low shelf life, unlike pickles that undergo preservation processes, which is a big distinction between them. "Another category is relish, under which murabba falls, says Kapur, calling it the in-between of a chutney and a pickle.

In the summer, mango is the undisputed contender even for chutneys, with raw mango adding its tang to signature blends. "In Bengal, I love the ber or bor ki chutney during winter. India also makes chutneys out of aloo bukhara (plum), mirchi, raw mango, and summer is best for fresh chutney made with herbs like mint and coriander," says Kapur.

Writer of cultures and independent researcher based in Kayalpatnam, Tamil Nadu, Sumaiya Mustafa opines that chutney as a concept is found all over the subcontinent in different names, such as sambols. Still, the word chutney prevails in almost every region of our country. "It was first a necessity to gulp down khichdi and lubricate our breads. The British took it from us and made the condiment almost like a preserve. Cheeseboard chutneys and chutneys named after miscellaneous army personnel, like Major Grey's chutney, made of mango, raisins, vinegar, lime juice, onion, tamarind extract and spices, are classics among Brits even today and had become a rage in the 1980s American households. Like curry powders, chutneys caught their imagination, too. Vencatachellum Madras Curry Powder from the late 19th century even exported chutneys," she recalls.

Chutneys were popularised with the coming of the Suez Canal when steam engines brought in the ‘memsahebs' whose husbands were stationed in India. They set up households where Indian servants cooked and cleaned for them. In the cookbooks created for them, along with the Anglo-Indian community, chutneys and pickles started finding their due," says Mustafa, leaving us with something to ponder: "Chutneys are subjective; tastes themselves are - my preference maybe someone else's nightmare. To know about the salt and spice preferences for whom one cooks is important to mastering the art of cooking anything, especially chutney." We dive into a chutney paradise across India.

For the Mangalorean dry fish chutney, Goregaon-based home chef Jaya Naik blends roasted red chillies, jeera, coriander seeds, tamarind and garlic into a powder. To this, add fresh coconut and give it a short blitz. Add raw chopped onions. Fry any dried fish like prawns, anchovies or sole fish, in coconut oil and add to the mixture. Temper with curry leaves and mustard seeds before serving. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Home chef Mumtaz Kazi shares an anecdote from her Kokani Muslim tradition. "When someone loses flavour in their mouth, we make kokum chutney. We say: ‘tonda la laya' loosely translates to adding a chataka (flavour zing) to the palate," Kazi explains. Konkan is lush with kokum and coconut, and come summer; the chutney is made for its cooling properties. "To increase shelf life, we spray a little oil on it. The chutney is ground and kept in mitti ka saan (flat earthenware plate) and kept on bhanoshi (the space behind an earthen chulha)," says Kazi.

Move up to Gujarat and Kutch: Hetal Chedda from Not a Chef whips up delicious Gujarati offerings and says with their staple of bhakri, rotla and dhokla, chutney seals the deal. "As a Gujarati and Kutchi family, I eat khakra in the morning every day, and with that, we eat a vateli (hand-pounded, semi-coarse) chutney that can almost be called a Gujarati thecha. In summer, it gets the addition of raw mango. My mom makes it with green chillies, ginger, and salt, and then you have half crush it with your hand; in winter, we put green garlic, which is seasonally available," she says.

Goregaon-based home chef Jaya Naik knows a good chutney needs the best ingredients, which she usually procures from a nearby Mangalorean store. She treks to Malad market for dry prawns, anchovies or sole fish, either of which are added as a dry catch to the Mangalorean fish chutney. Across her birthplace, Mangalore, rice and coconut are abundant, making the base for chutneys, too. The story of chutney begins with the popular breakfast meal of idli dosa, which comes with a side of coconut chutney made with green chillies, ginger, garlic and tamarind with a tadka of urad dal and curry leaves. "Every household makes this, along with another speciality, a ridge gourd (turiya) chutney. We scrape off the sharp edges and boil it in buttermilk," she explains.

Sumaiya Mustafa

Summer calls for tangy mango chutney, called kuku dha chutney in Tulu. Raw and ripened mangoes are accompanied by coconut, red or green chillies, garlic, and ginger. The chutney is finished with a tadka in coconut oil. When made in bulk, it is made in a round hollow stone mortar and a pestle.

Chef Ravi Dija Debnath, executive chef of Tanjore Tiffin that focuses on home style Chennai cuisine, has set out on road trips to the state with his team to train under traditional chefs. To give their jackfruit cutlets and egg bondas the same flavour zing, they made a variety of chutneys. "Pathar ke phool (stone flower), kali miri to garam masala makes it into the grinder. The standout bor chilli lends the spice," he says.

Kunal Kapur loves a good dose of chutney with his meals. It helps add nutrition and taste and moisten the bite too

Like the rest of India, Gitika Saikia of Gitika's PakGhor, which offers North East Indian cuisine, says, "We eat chutneys with each meal across all seasons, and some are eaten like a sabzi!" She parrots a list of chutneys from the region - black sesame, white sesame, garlic, bhut jolokia, spring onion, perilla seeds, bamboo shoot chutney, etc. We also have a range of dry, fermented, and smoked fish chutneys.

For the til chutney, Gitika Saikia blends 100 gm black sesame (dry roasted and coarse ground), a tsp of fermented bamboo shoot, five cherry tomatoes(grilled), half a bhut jolokia and salt. Pics/Anurag Ahire

In Assam, chutneys take precedence depending on the ingredients across the area. "Perilla or wild sesame seeds are familiar towards the hills of Assam around Margherita-Changlang-Namsai on the Arunachal Pradesh border; black sesame is plenty in Karbi Anglong hills around Meghalaya. "The common ones are fermented soya bean chutney called akhuni or axone. Most popular in the urban and remote areas is the goroi maas, a pond fish pounded chutney. Fresh fishes are caught, roasted over fire and cleaned."

Aubergine and peanut chutney

INGREDIENTS
6 cups diced aubergine
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp kalonji
1 tbsp jeera
1/4 cup curry leaves
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 cups jaggery, grated
1 cup tamarind pulp
1/2 cup peanuts, roasted

METHOD
Heat olive oil and add kalonji and then jeera. Once it crackles, add curry leaves and immediately add the tomatoes. Sauté for a minute
Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Stir for a minute
Add aubergine and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tamarind and simmer on slow heat, covered for 2-3 minutes. Add the grated jaggery and roasted peanuts. Check for seasoning. Cool and store in a tight-fitting jar.

Chennai's red chutney

INGREDIENTS
15 gm tomatoes, chopped
30 gm onions, chopped
3 gm garlic
5 gm red chilli powder
5 ml sesame oil
1 gm mustard seeds
1 gm chana dal
1 gm curry leaves
15 ml tamarind
2 pieces bor chilli
1 gm hing

Chef Ravi Debnath makes red tomato chutney with bor chillies at Tanjore Tiffin, Versova. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Method
Add all ingredients in the blender till it has a chutney-like consistency.

Kokum chutney

INGREDIENTS
1 bowl kokum saal (remove seeds)
10-12 dry red Kashmiri chillies
4-5 fresh spicy green chillies
5-6 garlic cloves
Rock salt to taste

METHOD
Grind all ingredients to a coarse paste on a grinding stone.
Cooking tip: Sprinkle oil on the chutney to keep fungus at bay. Can be kept out for three to four days.