Chutney is actually a Hinglish word for चटनी. Basically Chutney is a term used to describe a side dish that accompanies a main dish. The side dish is usually in a wet, liquidy, or thick saucy form, but sometimes dry spices are used as well. Chutney is usually either sweet or spicy. Long ago Chutney was made by grounding the spices with a grinding stone or a wooden mortar and pestle. Today people just use a blender. Some regions of India are known for specific varieties of Chutney. Let’s take a look at some of the different varieties of Chutney:

In Maharashtra, पञ्चामृत Chutney is used for religious offerings. पञ्चामृत Chutney is composed of five ingredients: milk, honey, butter, sugar and yogurt. Mango (केरी) Chutney is also popular, and is composed of mangos, green chilies (हरी मिर्च) and/or red chilli (लाल मिर्च), tumeric (हरिद्रा) powder and some salt (नमक). (The one in the picture is Mango Chutney.)

In the Uttar Pradesh region, garlic (लहसुन) Chutney (pictured left) is very well liked and consists of garlic, peanuts (मूँगफली), coriander (धनिया) seeds and coconut (नारियल). Then there’s also jaggery Chutney. Jaggery is a type of unrefined palm sugar. The jaggery Chutney may contain jaggery (गुड़), tamarind (इमली), mustard seeds (सरसों), and cumin (ज़ीरा) seeds.

In Orissa, the tomato (टमाटर) chutney (pictured) consists of tomato, ginger (अदरक), fenugreek (मेथी) (fenugreek is a seed that is ground up in a type of spice powder that is frequently used in curry), cinnamon (दालचीनी), and red chilies. There are also fruit chutneys like lemon (नीबू) chutney, orange (संतरा) chutney, and apricot (खुबानी) chutney mixed with asafoetida (हींग) (asafoetida is plant that has a strong odor when uncooked).