Green chutney is a fresh Indian sauce of coriander, mint, green chilli, ginger, lemon and salt, blended smooth. It is served with samosas, pakoras, chaat, sandwiches and tandoori dishes.
What it is¶
Green chutney (hari chutney, or dhaniya pudina chutney, coriander-mint chutney) is a bright green, fresh sauce of coriander leaves and stems, mint, green chillies, ginger, lemon or lime juice, salt and often a pinch of chaat masala or roasted cumin, blended smooth with a little water. It is not a cooked or preserved chutney in the British sense — it is closer to a raw herb sauce — and it is made fresh every day or two.
It is the essential partner to fried snacks and street food across India, the sharp, cooling-yet-hot counterpoint to tamarind chutney in chaat, and the spread in Mumbai's famous vegetable sandwiches.
Origins¶
Fresh ground chutneys of herbs, chillies and souring agents are an old part of Indian cooking, traditionally ground on a grinding stone. Mint and coriander are both long established in South Asia, while the green chillies arrived with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. The Hindi chatni comes from a root meaning "to lick".
The coriander-mint chutney familiar today is especially associated with North and West Indian street food, and its reach in Britain comes through the curry house, where a thinner, yoghurt-based mint sauce is served with poppadoms.
What goes in it¶
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| Coriander leaves and stems | The base; stems have lots of flavour |
| Mint leaves | Cool, sweet freshness; leaves only, stems are bitter |
| Green chillies | Heat |
| Ginger | Warmth |
| Lemon or lime juice | Acid; also keeps the colour bright |
| Salt, a pinch of sugar | Balance |
| Chaat masala or roasted cumin | Tangy, sulphurous, earthy depth |
| Garlic, peanuts, coconut or yoghurt (optional) | Regional variations |
Flavour¶
Bright, sharp, herbal and hot, with the cool lift of mint and the tang of lemon and chaat masala. A good green chutney is vivid green, not khaki, and tastes fresh rather than grassy or bitter.
💡 Keep it green
Blend with ice-cold water or an ice cube, add the lemon juice early, and blend in short bursts. Heat from the blender and air exposure turn the chlorophyll dull; acid helps preserve the colour for a day or two.
How to use it¶
- Fried snacks: samosas, pakoras, bhajis, kachoris, vada pav.
- Chaat: with sweet tamarind chutney on bhel puri, sev puri, pani puri, aloo tikki chaat and dahi puri.
- Sandwiches: spread with butter in the Bombay vegetable sandwich.
- Tandoori and grills: with tandoori chicken, seekh kebabs and paneer tikka; often mixed with yoghurt.
- Gujarati snacks: dhokla, khandvi and farsan.
Making it at home¶
About 250 ml · 10 minutes
You need
- A large bunch coriander, leaves and tender stems (about 60 g)
- A handful mint leaves (about 20 g)
- 2–4 green chillies, chopped
- 2 cm ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 small garlic clove (optional)
- ½ tsp roasted cumin powder
- ½ tsp chaat masala (optional)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
- 3–4 tbsp ice-cold water, or 2 ice cubes
Method
- Wash the herbs well and discard the thick coriander roots and mint stalks.
- Put the lemon juice, chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar and spices in a small blender jar with a little water and blend briefly.
- Add the herbs and blend in short bursts, adding the rest of the cold water as needed, until smooth and bright green.
- Taste for salt, heat and acid. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Variations¶
- Yoghurt green chutney: blend with 3–4 tbsp thick yoghurt, for tandoori and tikka; keeps a day.
- Sandwich chutney: thicker, with less water and sometimes a slice of bread or a few roasted chana (chickpeas) to bind.
- Coriander chutney: without mint, often with peanuts or grated coconut in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- Mint chutney (pudina): mostly mint, sometimes with onion and raw mango.
- South Indian: green chillies and coriander with coconut and a tempering of mustard seed and curry leaves.
Buying and storing¶
Green chutney is best the day it is made. It keeps 2–3 days in a sealed jar in the fridge; the colour dulls slowly. Freeze in ice-cube trays for up to a month. A thin layer of lemon juice or oil on top helps slow browning.