Hari Chutney or Green Chutney or Mint Coriander Chutney or Coriander chutney or Mint Chutney…or dip!!

A quick short post for Lisa…Hari Chutney or Green Chutney or Mint Coriander Chutney or Coriander chutney or Mint Chutney…or dip J

Lisa asked "I have a question too. You may or may not have a recipe for this as I'm not sure if the proper name for it.  It is a condiment, bright green, spicy & a bit minty. At a restaurant I used to frequent, now closed, we just referred to it as Mint Sauce or Green Sauce. Can you tell me what it is called?"

Everyone has their own permutations and combinations and again there is no right or wrong…these are mine

Hari Chutney

Ingredients:

• Fresh Green Coriander, 1 cup
• Fresh Green Mint, ½ cup
• Fresh Green chilies, coarsely chopped, 6-7 or to taste
• Onion, coarsely chopped, ½ small
• Fresh Ginger, 1 “
• Garlic cloves, 4-5 or to taste
• Lemon juice, 2-3 tbsp or to taste
• Salt, to taste (start with ½ tsp and then add more if reqd.)

Instructions:

Remove the thick stems from Coriander – use the top thin tender ones. For Mint, only leaves to be used. 

Wash well, drain and keep aside.

Whizz everything else in the blender except the coriander and mint. Once done add them in batches to make a smooth paste. 

Taste, adjust seasonings and done!!

You can keep the consistency a little thick (like pesto) or blend into a fine paste.

The dark green one is the base chutney.

The light green one has about equal amount of yogurt added into it.

Hundreds of options, some of them mentioned below…the only thing that is common in all of them is to avoid adding water when blending. If you absolutely must, don’t add more than a couple of tablespoons.

One thing to remember though…the chutney colour will go darker with time…if you want to retain the bright green colour, add a tablespoon or two of any flavorless white oil while blending.

Options:

• Make with only coriander or only mint or reverse the ratio of coriander: mint ( i.e. switch to 1:2 instead of 2:1 as above)

• Substitute lemon juice with sour raw mango or aamchur/dried mango powder or dried pomegranate seeds or tamarind pulp

• Add cumin seeds or roasted cumin powder

• Use kala namak/rock salt instead of regular salt

• Use ginger and garlic to taste or use only ginger or only garlic

• Add a little water to thin it out and add some sugar

• Add fresh grated coconut

• Add a handful of peanuts or pistachio nuts or almonds

• Add a small piece or two of green capsicum and blend along with rest of the ingredients or add green apple or grated cucumber with yogurt

• Replace lemon juice with tamarind paste, remove garlic and add in fresh grated coconut or roasted peanuts. Cook all ingredients for 3-4 minutes in a pan with a little oil and a pinch of turmeric added. Blend well and then temper with mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chilies

• Add oil and vinegar to make into a dressing

• Use as is for sandwich spread (typical Indian filling of cooked potato etc) or mix with a little mayo or cream cheese or tahini and yogurt