Cilantro Chutney

My favorite Cilantro Chutney is great on sandwiches, wraps and is also the perfect accompaniment to parathas, pakoras, samosas & more!

If you love Pakistani food, then you must have come across the green cilantro chutney.

Pakistani meals (especially snacks and appetizers) are often incomplete without a side of this chutney.

Chutneys and achars (pickles) are an integral part of Pakistani and Indian food. In my home, there was always some sort of chutney on the table for our lunch.

The common ones were of course cilantro, mint and then there was amla chutney (Indian gooseberry) and chutney made of raw mangoes! Oh well, the list is endless.

In fact everyone was so obsessed with chutneys in my house that if there was nothing else, we would make a chutney of garlic, green chilies with mustard oil.

It was the simplest chutney where you had to just crush everything  and mix it all together and let me tell you it tasted amazing, especially with plain parathas!

I grew up eating cilantro chutney on everyday basis and so you can always find a batch of it in my refrigerator. It never lasts more than a week in my house, sometimes even less.

The thing about this chutney is that it is so versatile. You can use it on sandwiches, wraps, salads and so much more. If you love Indian food, then you gotta have a batch of this in your refrigerator at all times!

It’s like any chutney tastes 10 times better when hand grinded with that stone. This cilantro chutney is made in blender.

Ingredients for Cilantro Chutney

Cilantro:  of course, the star ingredients on this dish! Use fresh cilantro here for best results.

Ginger: I love adding ginger to my chutney, gives it a nice flavor. Some people add garlic too but I usually just go with the ginger.

Green Chili: what is a chutney without some spice? My version uses only 1 thai green chili so it isn’t really spicy. If you want a spicier chutney, feel free to add more of these.

Spices: chaat masala, roasted cumin powder are added to flavor the chutney.

Lemon juice: it adds a nice tang to the chutney, do not skip it.

Yogurt: now some people prefer adding yogurt and some don’t. I belong to the former category, I almost always use yogurt in my cilantro chutney recipe.

I have tried this chutney with dairy yogurt as well as non-dairy yogurt (plain almond milk yogurt) and it comes out great both ways.

Sugar: just a bit of sugar helps in balancing the flavors. You may skip it.

And of course there’s some salt and pepper!

How to Thicken The Chutney

In my experience, the chutney made with almond milk yogurt turns out pretty thick.

Serving Suggestions

This chutney is amazing on sandwiches, rolls, wraps. And you can eat it with naan, tikki, samosa, pakoras, the list is really too long.

Basically, it tastes great with anything & everything!

Method

Remove all the hard stems/stalks from the cilantro, the tender ones are okay to have and then wash the cilantro.

To a blender add the cilantro leaves, green chili, ginger, cumin powder, chaat masala, black pepper and salt. Also add in lemon juice and sugar.

Add yogurt to the blender. I have used vegan yogurt here in this recipe (plain almond milk yogurt).

Blend it all together to a smooth consistency. If your chutney has a runny consistency, you may add a teaspoon of sev or peanuts to the chutney to make it thicker.

Add 1 teaspoon at a time and then go from there.

Keep this cilantro chutney refrigerated and use it as needed. You can also freeze the chutney.

Ingredients

• 2 small bunches cilantro, 50-60 grams each, hard stems removed
• 1 green chili, or to taste
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• 1/8 teaspoon chaat masala, optional
• pinch black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup yogurt, plain milk yogurt or plain almond milk yogurt

Instructions

1. Remove all the hard stems/stalks from the cilantro, the tender ones are okay to have and then wash the cilantro.
2. To a blender add the cilantro leaves, green chili, ginger, cumin powder, chaat masala, black pepper and salt. Also add in lemon juice and sugar.Add yogurt to the blender. I have used vegan yogurt here in this recipe (plain almond milk yogurt). You can also use plain milk yogurt.
3. Blend it all together to a smooth consistency. If your chutney has a runny consistency, you may add a teaspoon of sev or peanuts to the chutney to make it thicker. Add 1 teaspoon at a time and then go from there.
4. Keep this cilantro chutney refrigerated and use it as needed. You can also freeze the chutney.

Recipe Notes

1. Feel free to add more yogurt as per your taste. More yogurt=less spicy chutney.
2. Add more green chilies for a spicier chutney.