Chutney

This article is about the condiment. For the film, see Chutney (film). For the genre of music, see Chutney music.

A chutney (pronounced [ˈʧəʈɳiː]) is a condiment associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, some raw such as with coriander, others cooked with sugar, like mango chutney. In India, the spices are freshly ground each day, and a chutney is served with every meal. During the British Raj, Anglo-Indian cuisine adapted Indian chutney and brought it back to Britain, where green mango chutney in particular became popular. In the Western world, chutneys may be made with local fruits and vegetables, or purchased.

Chutney

Different types of chutneys from Bengaluru, India
Alternative names	blatjang, chatni, pachadi, satni, thambuli
Place of origin	Indian subcontinent
Region or state	South Asia, Britain, Western world
Associated cuisine	Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom
Main ingredients	Vegetables, fruits, vinegar, salt, spices.
Cookbook: Chutney   Media: Chutney

Etymology and nomenclature

The word chutney derives from Hindi/Urdu (Nastaliq: چٹنی, Devanagari: चटनी) chaṭnī, deriving from चाटना chāṭnā 'to lick' or 'to eat with appetite'. In South India, chutneys are known as pachadi (Telugu: పచ్చడి, Kannada: ಪಚಡಿ, Tamil: பச்சடி, Malayalam: പച്ചടി, Marathi: पचडी) meaning traditional South Indian sauces or chutneys served as side dishes. Roughly translated, a pachadi is a pounded or crushed plant.

History

See also: Curry

Indian cuisine

See also: Indian cuisine

Pounding a chutney with mortar and pestle in India

Similar in preparation and usage to a pickle, simple spiced chutneys can be dated to 500 BC. Originating in India, chutneys are used as spicy relishes to accompany plain staples such as rice. Indian meals typically comprise a dish of meat, a dish of pulses, rice or bread, a yoghurt relish (raita or dahi), and a homemade chutney.

The flavourings are freshly ground each day, and include spices such as chili and ginger as well as herbs like coriander and mint. The body of the chutney may consist of fruits or vegetables, with regional variations. Coconut chutney is the most used in South India; herb and coconut is liked in Western India, as is garlic chutney; while unripe mango chutney is preferred in North India. Chutneys made only with herbs are used in both Western and North India. Tomato chutney is consumed in all parts of India. In Kashmir, chutneys variously use sour cherries, pumpkins, radishes, or walnuts.

Some chutneys, such as fresh coriander chutney, are uncooked: they consist simply of the fresh green leaves ground up with flavourings, such as fresh green chili, lemon juice, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Other kinds contain fruits cooked like a preserve with sugar and flavoured with spices such as garlic, cayenne pepper, and ginger.

Anglo-Indian cuisine

See also: Anglo-Indian cuisine

Tiger Chutney, c. 1950

Anglo-Indians during the British Raj greatly liked chutneys and pickles, and prepared many kinds. For the pickled varieties, vegetables such as aubergines and bell peppers may be packed with chilies, mustard seed, and turmeric to give them a strong flavour; these may be cooked in mustard oil or sesame oil. Some fruits are prepared by pickling, soaking mangoes and limes in salty water in a pot which is left in the sun. For the sweet chutneys, fruits such as mango are cooked with sugar, vinegar, and spices. Uncooked chutneys use ingredients such as green coriander leaves and coconut, flavoured with chili, tamarind, and sugar; these are prepared afresh each day.

Major Grey's Chutney, a sweet and spicy variety, was supposedly created by a likely apocryphal 19th-century British Army officer of the British Raj, adapting Indian cuisine to Anglo-Indian taste. Its characteristic ingredients are mango, raisins, vinegar, lime juice, onion, tamarind extract, sweetening and spices. Several companies produce a Major Grey's Chutney, in India, the UK and the US. The formula was sold to Crosse and Blackwell, a major British food manufacturer, probably in the early 1800s.

To Britain

In the 17th century, in the time of the East India Company, British travellers to India noticed the many chutneys and pickles, called achar. Sailors found that the preserve-like varieties were useful accompaniments to their maritime diet of salt meat and dry ship's biscuit. Quantities were brought home to Britain, whether by individual travellers or by merchants, soon to be copied by cooks. These imitation chutneys were called "mangoed" fruits or vegetables.

In the absence of the heat of the Indian sun to ferment their chutneys, vinegar was added to pickle the chutney vegetables. Instead of Indian limes, mangoes, and tamarind, British cooks used fresh fruits and vegetables such as apples, marrows, and onions with an equal weight of brown sugar, with the addition of dried sultanas. Hot British spices like mustard powder and horseradish substituted for chili. A liking for Indian pickle-style chutneys led Anglo-Indian cooks to devise piccalilly relish made with vegetables, vinegar, salt, and yellow turmeric. Influenced by Anglo-Indian cuisine, chutney is often eaten with hard cheese or with cold meats. Western-style chutneys may include spices and flavourings such as salt, garlic, tamarind, onion or ginger.

In other countries

See also: List of chutneys

South African chutneys are called blatjang, and can be made using fruits such as apricots.

In Trinidad and Tobago, chutneys are mostly made from green mangoes, coconut or tamarind.

• South Indian-style chutney (green, in the middle), Bangalore, 2007
• Chutneys served with the main dish in an Indian restaurant, Canada, 2006
• Mango chutney, America, 2006
• Pesarattu and ginger chutney, Pakistan, 2007
• Chicken chutney, Bangladesh, 2015
• Fresh coconut chutney, Bangalore, 2008
• Mint chutney, India, 2011
• Homemade tomato chutney, America, 2006

See also

• Branston pickle – British food brand known for its pickled chutney
• Furikake – Japanese seasoning
• Indian pickle – Pickled varieties of vegetable and fruit
• Indian relish
• Sooth (chutney) – Sweet chutney
• Tomato ketchup – Sauce used as a condimentPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

Sources

• Brown, Patricia (24 February 1998). Anglo-Indian Food and Customs. Penguin Books India. ISBN 0-14-027137-6.
• Collingham, Lizzie (2006) [2005 (Chatto & Windus)]. Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-099-43786-4.
• Davidson, Alan (2014). "chutney". In Tom Jaine (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7.
• Helstosky, Carol (2014). The Routledge History of Food. Routledge Histories. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-62113-3.
• Jaffrey, Madhur (1982). Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery. London: BBC. ISBN 978-0-563-16491-3.
• Prince, Thane (2016) [2008]. Thane Prince's Jams & Chutneys: Preserving the Harvest. DK. ISBN 978-0241255667.
• Raghavan, S. (2006). "Pickle and Chutney Blends". Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings (Second ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-0436-6. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
• Winer, Lise (2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-3406-3.

Further reading

• Food Safety in Production of Chutney, Pickles. Jams, Oils – UK. Canterbury.
• Dahiya, Ashish. Food of Haryana: The Great Chutneys. Vol. 1. India. ISBN 978-93-81818-05-3.
• Weaver, William Woys. "Chutney". Ed. Solomon H. Katz. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. pp. 417–418. 3 vols. ISBN 0-684-80568-5.

External links

• Chutney Origins at Foodreference.com.