Green Chutney is a spicy and flavorful cilantro sauce. This popular Indian condiment is the best sauce for dipping or as a spread for your wraps/sandwiches or to drizzle over your chaat recipes. Cilantro, ginger, garlic, green chillies, few Indian spices, sugar and lemon juice is all you need to make this delicious chutney. Vegan, gluten-free and freezer friendly!!
Green Chutney is a very popular condiment from India. You will always find this delicious sauce at most Indian homes and restaurants as side or dipping sauce. There are many variations of green chutney and I make it a couple of ways too.
One is my Cilantro Mint Chutney which I make often as we love to eat it as a side with north Indian (Punjabi) meals or as a dipping sauce with any Indian snacks or appetizers. But I prefer to use just cilantro chutney (no mint) for chaat recipes or as a spread with sandwiches or wraps. So for today's post I'm sharing Cilantro Chutney or Green chutney for Chaat or sandwiches.
Having grown up in Mumbai, eating chaat or sandwiches from the street vendors was very common. Infact we friends would look forward to it after college classes. With so many vendors, their chutneys was what made them unique and set them apart. One of my favorite and very famous vendor always made their chutney with just cilantro (no mint). Even at home, mom would make her chutney just with cilantro when we made homemade chaat. So that's how I associate the cilantro chutney as chutney for chaat and sandwiches.
What is Green Chutney
Green Chutney is a spicy Indian condiment made with cilantro (coriander), ginger green chilli, garlic (optional), Indian spices, sugar and lemon juice.
This basic version of green chutney made with cilantro or coriander is very versatile. It is also known as Cilantro Chutney or coriander chutney or Hari Chutney or dhania chutney in Hindi.
If you love Indian food and have been to Indian restaurant, you probably already tasted it.
This chutney is popularly used to flavor Chaat recipes or as a dipping sauce with Indian snacks or as a spread with your sandwiches/wraps.
Cilantro Chutney Ingredients
Cilantro - Also known as coriander or dhania (in hindi) or kothimbir (in marathi). Use fresh green leaves, not spotty or wilted kind as they may turn the chutney bitter. You can also add the tender stems/stalk of cilantro. Discard the hard woody stems.
Aromatics - Ginger and garlic, both provide great flavor and aroma to the chutney. They can be used together or either one. I usually add both for making the chaat chutney as that way I don't have to make separate garlic chutney. Or sometimes I just make it using ginger and skip the garlic and its still delicious!!
Green Chilli - I prefer my chutney a little spicy but you can adjust the spice levels to suit your taste.
Spices - Chaat Masala, cumin seeds (or powder), rock salt and salt and pepper, these further enhance the flavor.
Lemon juice - To provide nice tang to the chutney and also help maintain the fresh green color.
Sugar - This is optional but highly recommended. A little goes a long way and helps balance all the flavors. Honey can be used in place of sugar.
How to make green chutney
Pick the cilantro leaves, keep the tender stems/stalks and discard the hard ones. Wash these thoroughly.
In a blender (I prefer to use my nutribullet for small quantity or vitamix for bulk) add all the ingredients like cilantro, ginger, garlic, green chillies, spices (chaat masala, rock salt, cumin seeds (or roasted cumin powder), salt, pepper, lemon juice and sugar.
Blend using couple of tablespoon of water (or as needed) to form a thick, smooth paste.
If the sauce is too runny or watery, add some thick sev or roasted gram (dalia or roasted split chickpeas) or roasted peanuts to make the chutney thick.
Immediately transfer to airtight container for storage.
Storing and freezing green chutney
I prefer to make this chutney in bulk and store some in refrigerator for that week and freeze the remaining. Refrigerated chutney is good for up to a week for longer use, freeze the chutney.
To freeze transfer the chutney to ice-cube trays or individual portion containers. Once frozen, transfer ice-cubes to ziplock bags and put them back in freezer. Frozen chutney is good for up to 2-3 months.
To thaw, place the cubes (as many required) in a container overnight in refrigerator or on the counter for couple of hours until defrosted. If in a rush, you can defrost it in microwave but not recommended as the heat may alter the color.
How to keep the chutney green
Cilantro chutney has a tendency to turn dark due to oxidation (reaction with air). However that doesn't alter the taste. These are a few tips to ensure the green color is retained as much as possible
- Add generous lemon juice and some sugar. Both are known to help maintain the green vibrant color.
- Refrigerate or even better freeze the chutney as soon as it's made to stop any oxidization.
- Add salt only when serving the chutney as salt is also know to aid oxidation.
- Do not over blend, the heat from blending can cause greens to go dark.
- Add some peanuts or roasted gram while blending to preserve the green color.
Variations of green chutney
This basic version of green chutney and is highly customizable to your preference. Few options are
- Adding mint - I prefer my Chaat chutney without mint but if you like the flavor go ahead and add about ½ to 1 cup of mint leaves while blending. Or use my Cilantro Mint Chutney recipe.
- Adding Yogurt - Many restaurants serve their green chutney mixed in yogurt especially with tandoor items like paneer tikka, chicken tikka etc. Mix about ¼ cup or more thick plain yogurt to get that light green restaurant style chutney.
Serving suggestions:
We love our green chutney with anything and everything but particularly with
- Chaat recipes like Dahi Vada, Arbi Chaat, Ragda Pattice etc.
- Indian appetizer or snacks like Samosa Rolls,Kothimbir Vadi, Cutlets Dhokla or Puffs.
- Flatbread recipes - Parathas, Chilla, Thalipeeth
- Sandwiches - If you haven't had a simple chutney sandwich you are missing out big time!! Just bread slathered with butter and green chutney makes a great snack/breakfast!
More such Indian Condiments to try:
- Date Tamarind Chutney
- Instant ginger green chill pickle
- Instant lemon pickle
- Quick pickled onions
- Instant Pickled Jalapeños
Hope you enjoy this Green Chutney - Spicy Cilantro Chutney as much as we do!! If you give this recipe a try, we did love to hear from you ❤️ Please let us know your rating ⭐️and feedback in the comments below. Thank you!
Recipe Card
Green Chutney (Spicy Cilantro Chutney)
Ingredients
- 2 cup cilantro
- 2-3 green chillies thai or 2 Serrano pepper or 1 jalapeño
- 1 inch ginger
- 2 garlic cloves optional
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon black salt optional
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or use roasted cumin seeds powder
- 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice to taste adjust to taste
- 2 tbsp roasted gram (dalia or roasted split chickpea) or roasted peanuts or thick sev
Instructions
- Pick the cilantro leaves, keep the tender stems/stalks and discard the hard ones. Wash these thoroughly.
- In a blender add all the ingredients like cilantro, ginger, garlic, green chillies, spices (chaat masala, rock salt, cumin seeds (or roasted cumin powder), salt, pepper, lemon juice and sugar. Blend using couple of tablespoon of water (or as needed) to form a thick, smooth paste.
- If the sauce is too runny or watery, add some thick sev or roasted gram or roasted peanuts to make the chutney thick. Increase by a tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency.
- Immediately transfer to airtight container for storage. Store in refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for longer use.
- Serve with your favorite appetizers or spread in on your sandwices/wraps or drizzle on chaat recipes!!
Notes
- To refrigerate, store some in refrigerator for that week. Refrigerated chutney is good for up to a week for longer use, freeze the chutney.
- To freeze, transfer the chutney to ice-cube trays or individual portion containers. Once frozen, transfer ice-cubes to ziplock bags and freeze again. Frozen chutney is good for up to 2-3 months.
- To thaw, individual packaged container or place the cubes (as many required) in a container overnight in refrigerator or on the counter for couple of hours until defrosted. If in a rush, you can defrost it in microwave but not recommended as the heat may alter the color.
- Add generous lemon juice and some sugar. Both are known to help maintain the green vibrant color.
- Refrigerate or even better freeze the chutney as soon as it’s made to stop any oxidization.
- Add salt only when serving the chutney as salt is also know to aid oxidation.
- Do not over blend, the heat from blending can cause greens to go dark.
- Add some peanuts or roasted gram while blending to preserve the green color.
- Adding mint – I prefer my Chaat chutney without mint but if you like the flavor go ahead and add about ½ to 1 cup of mint leaves while blending. Or use my Cilantro Mint Chutney recipe.
- Adding Yogurt – Many restaurants serve their green chutney mixed in yogurt especially with tandoor items like paneer tikka, chicken tikka etc. Mix about ¼ cup or more thick plain yogurt to get that light green restaurant style chutney.
Happy Cooking!!
Shweta
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