Seasonal Chutney Recipe: One Fresh Base, Four Seasonal Versions

A fresh chutney is a spoonful of concentrated flavour at the side of a meal: bright, sharp, salty, a little sour. In Indian homes it changes with the season, because it is made from whatever is fresh: mint and raw mango in the heat, ginger and coriander in the damp, amla in the cold.

This page gives one simple base recipe and four seasonal versions, with the traditional reading and honest cautions. It is a condiment, not a remedy, and nothing here claims it treats or prevents anything.

The recipe at a glance

• Time: 10 minutes, no cooking.
• Makes: about three quarters of a cup (170 ml), enough for 4 to 6 meals.
• Equipment: a blender or a mortar and pestle.

Base ingredients

• 2 cups of packed fresh coriander leaves and tender stems (about 60 g)
• Half a cup of fresh mint leaves (about 15 g)
• 1 small green chilli, or less, seeds removed
• A thin slice of fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (30 ml)
• Half a teaspoon of roasted cumin powder
• Half a teaspoon of salt, or to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of water (30 to 45 ml), to help blending
• Optional: 2 tablespoons of fresh or desiccated coconut (about 15 g) to soften the flavour

Method

1. Wash the coriander and mint thoroughly in several changes of water, shaking off the excess. Fresh herbs can carry soil and bacteria, so do not skip this.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender with the water and blend to a coarse or smooth paste, as you like. Scrape the sides down once.
3. Taste and adjust the salt, chilli and lemon. The chutney should be sharp and fresh, not bitter.
4. Spoon into a clean jar. Keep in the fridge and use within 3 days. A thin layer of oil on the top helps keep the colour, and lemon helps too.

Four seasonal versions

Each uses the base, with the changes below.

• Summer (Grishma): mint and raw mango. Add half a cup of grated raw green mango (about 75 g) in place of the lemon, use more mint than coriander, and leave out the chilli or keep it very mild. Sweet and sour, and refreshing.
• Monsoon (Varsha): ginger and coriander. Use more ginger, about a thumb-sized piece (5 g), add a pinch of black pepper, and use lemon in place of mango. Fresh herbs need extra washing in the damp months.
• Autumn (Sharad): coriander and coconut. Use the coconut generously, reduce the chilli and add a few mint leaves for a milder, gentler chutney.
• Winter (Hemanta and Shishira): amla and coriander. Replace the lemon with 2 to 3 small chopped, de-stoned fresh amla (about 30 g), blend with the coriander, ginger and salt, and use a little less water. Amla is very sour, so start small.

You can read more about each season on the pages for Grishma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemanta and Shishira.

The Ayurvedic reading (traditional)

The tradition says that a meal should contain all six tastes and that condiments are a convenient way of adding the sharper ones, pungent, sour and salty, in small amounts. The page on the six tastes explains how. A spoonful of chutney is therefore a way of giving a plain meal of rice or dal more variety, and teachers say that a taste of pungent and sour can awaken appetite.

Ingredients are read one by one. Coriander leaf is described as cooling and agreeable to pitta. Mint is described as cool in effect. Ginger and the chilli are hot and pungent, cumin is mildly warming, and lemon and raw mango are sour. Amla is unusual in tradition for being sour yet described as cooling, and is classed as one of the most prized fruits in the tradition. Taken together, the tradition says the choice of herbs and spices should move with the season: more cooling ingredients in heat, and more warming ones in cold and damp weather. See seasonal eating for the thinking behind it.

On the doshas, teachers say a hotter, more sour version suits kapha and vata in cold weather, while the cooler, milder coconut or mint version is described as friendlier to pitta. Teachers also say condiments should be small, because strong tastes in quantity are hard on a sensitive stomach, a point repeated in the page on spices in the Ayurvedic kitchen.

What modern research says

Fresh herbs and citrus are healthy foods, and a spoonful of chutney adds flavour without much salt or fat. There are no studies of chutney as a health food, and the traditional claims about the doshas have not been tested. The practical risks are food hygiene and salt.

Who should be careful

• Food hygiene. Raw herbs can carry soil bacteria. Wash well, use clean equipment, store in the fridge and discard after 3 days. Pregnant women, older adults, young children and anyone with weakened immunity should be especially careful, and may prefer to blanch the herbs briefly.
• Allergy. Coriander allergy is more common than many people think and can cause real reactions. Avoid if you have it. Coconut and mango allergies exist too.
• Reflux, gastritis, ulcers. Chilli, ginger, lemon, raw mango and amla can make symptoms worse.
• Salt. If your doctor has told you to limit sodium, reduce or leave out salt.
• Medicines. Large amounts of amla and ginger are discussed in relation to blood thinning and blood sugar. A spoonful of chutney is a food amount, but ask your pharmacist if you take blood thinners or diabetes medicines, and say so before surgery.
• Kidney stones. Some people with a history of oxalate stones are advised to limit certain herbs and greens. Ask your doctor.
• Children. Keep the chilli very low or leave it out for young children.

This recipe is general education, not medical advice. Please read the medical disclaimer, see a doctor about any health concern, and a registered Ayurvedic practitioner (BAMS in India) if you want Ayurvedic treatment.

Frequently asked questions