How to make the Indian Green Chutney?

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If you’re wondering what is that green stuff at Indian restaurants, you’ve come to the right place. It’s the Indian green chutney; a paste made of cilantro/coriander leaves, mint leaves, lemon, sugar, salt and a few other ingredients.

If you’re a blog regular, you’ll remember mom’s green pista chutney. Well, that’s a nuttier and richer version of this regular Indian green chutney. Of course, every Indian family has their own version of the pudina-kothmeer chutney, but the base is the same; pudina or mint and kothmeer or coriander leaves. Okay-okay, some don’t use mint either. Some use ginger and garlic as we do, and some don’t. Every Indian mom has their trusted family recipe for making chutneys, and ours does too. Here’s how to make mom’s version of the famous green cilantro chutney.

What ingredients do you need for the Indian green chutney?

This is what my mom uses in her green chutney recipe.
2 medium pods garlic
20 green chillies
4-inch ginger
600 gms kothmeer (coriander or cilantro)
100 grams pudina (mint leaves)
juice of 4 sourlimes (or 3 lemons)
5 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp salt

Just so you know, with this recipe, you’ll end up with enough chutney to last for a few months. If you want you can use half the ingredients. So probably best if you go this way the first time.

1 medium pods garlic
10 green chillies
2-inch ginger
300 gms coriander (kothmeer or cilantro)
50 gms pudina (mint leaves)
juice of 2 sourlimes (or 1.5 lemons)
2.4 tbsp sugar
1.5 tbsp salt

Also, feel free to play around with the quantities of the ingredients till you reach a taste you like. Mom never measures her ingredients, it’s always “to taste” like our ancestors. But I convinced her to measure out these few times for you. 😉

Another note, if you’re making this chutney as a spread for the Daniel fast, skip the sugar. It still tastes great!

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How to make the Spicy Indian Green Chutney?

Start off by gathering your ingredients together, peeling the garlic, and breaking the ginger and chillies into random bits.

If you don’t want it too spicy, use 8 chillies instead of 10. Grind the garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor.

Ingredients for the chutney - Pic by Abby from AbbysPlate
Ingredients for the chutney

Wash the coriander or cilantro leaves and mint leaves and chop the bunches into halves or quarters so it’s easier to grind them. Next add the coriander (kothmeer) and mint (pudina) leaves to the garlic-ginger-chilly paste along with the lemon juice, sugar and salt. Blitz it till it forms a smooth paste.

Grind in a mixie with lime sugar and salt - Pic by Abby from AbbysPlate
Grind in a mixie with lime sugar and salt
See that it forms a paste
See that it forms a paste

And that’s it. In less than 15 minutes, your gluten free green chutney is ready. Lather on buttered bread or stuff it in pav with butter and eat. Or serve as a dip for some homemade chips from breadfruit, snacks, samosas, bhajiyas, or even with corned meat dishes.

Serve the chutney on bread - Pic by Abby from AbbysPlate
Serve the chutney on bread

This vegetarian mint chutney will keep in the refrigerator for a month or in the freezer for 4, 5 or even 6 months. Longer storage is quite possible too, but we eat it so often that mom keeps having to make it again and again!

Serve the chutney on bread - Pic by Abby from AbbysPlate

Spicy Indian Green Chutney

Abby
The Indian Green Chutney is an easy to make paste that's used both as a dip and as a spread. It's tangy, spicy and yummy; and all it takes is 15 minutes.
5 out of 5 Stars by 3 readers!

Click the stars to add your rating! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Dips, Meal Prep, Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Servings 30 Servings
Calories 13 kcal
Dairy free icon on Abbysplate website.
Gluten free icon on Abbysplate website.
Pickles and chutneys icon on Abbysplate website.
Vegetarian icon on Abbysplate website.

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pod Garlic
  • 10 Green Chillies – Fresh
  • 2 inch Ginger
  • 300 g Fresh Coriander Leaves (Kothmeer Or Cilantro)
  • 50 g Mint Leaves (Pudina)
  • 3 Sourlimes (Juice – Or juice of 2 lemons)
  • 2.5 Tablespoon Sugar Skip on the Daniel Fast!
  • 1.5 Tablespoon Salt

Instructions
 

  • Peel your garlic cloves and wash the other ingredients if necessary.
  • Break the chillies into halves and the ginger into smaller pieces.
  • Grind the chilles, ginger and garlic together in a food processor.
  • Next, chop the cilantro/coriander and mint into halves.
  • Add the mint and cilantro/coriander to the processor for grinding along with salt, sugar, and the lemon/sourlime juice.
  • Form a smooth paste.
  • Taste and see if you want to add more salt, sugar or chillies.
  • And that's it! The chutney is ready to serve in a sandwich or as a spicy dip for other snacks.

Please click to rate the recipe! Left you don’t like it, right you love it!

Notes

  1. If you’re eating this chutney on the Daniel fast, skip the sugar. It still tastes great!
  2. If you want it less spicy, use 7 or 8 chillies instead of 10. 
  3. We usually cook “to taste”, so feel free to adjust the ingredients till you like it.
  4. We use lesser lemon juice since they’re larger than sour limes. 
  5. Increase or decrease the amount of sugar and salt to your preference.
  6. Stores in the fridge for a month, and in the freezer for 6 months or longer.
  7. The rich green chutney with pista recipe is here.
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Stuff You Might Want to Use

All Natural Slate Cutting Board
King Arthur Baking - Country Bread Knife
Mixer Grinder – Food Processor
Silicon Spatula

Nutrition (Per Serving)

Calories: 13kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 404mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 747IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg

Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.

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1 thought on “How to make the Indian Green Chutney?”

  1. They serve a green chutney at the restaurant in our town with some crispy popadoms. So we tried this recipe with corn tortillas. It was a bit too spicy for my family. Next time we’ll reduce the chillies. But really loved it!5 stars

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