Coriander Chutney, Basic Recipe
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Coriander Chutney, Basic Recipe is a common chutney from Indian Households.
Coriander is more commonly known as Hara Dhaniya or Kothimbir in India and Cilantro in America. Chutney is Chutney, well to be more precise, a fine paste like dip that is filled with simple flavors.
English have taken Chutneys to a different level by marketing these as one exotic thing. During my 1 year stay in UK, slightly north of London in a village town called Letchworth, I came across a lovely chain of bakery called GREGGS and man, I loved their food. They tasted so much like Indian bakery. I bet you can make the connection there, given the history of Britain and India. Not only the Kohinoor traveled over the seas to land in the Queen’s hands, but Indian Chutneys and Curries reign the market too. ;)….
The 2 best sandwiches for me at GREGGS were their Egg Salad Sandwich and the other fingerlicking delicious sandwich was Arugula, sprouts & Grey Mango Chutney Sandwich. Just Delish. It’s been over 10 years now, but I still have that taste fresh in my mouth. In my humble opinion, UK offers one of the finest foods, showcasing global cuisine.
Ah, you get carried away sometimes, don’t you? Having said that, the Grey Mango Chutney and GREGGS have no relevance to my HUMBLE HARI DHANIYA CHUTNEY here.
16 years ago, when I first entered an American Grocery Store of Small University town of Pennsylvania, State College (the heart of PennState University), I knew no difference. I kept searching for a bunch of coriander leaves, reading all the herbs’ labels carefully – mint…cilantro…rosemary….flat leaf parsley..oregano…….and then back again….oregano…flat leaf parsley…rosemary…cilantro…mint. This went on for 10 minutes and I came back empty handed. Frustrated enough, I asked one of the Indian neighbors about coriander leaves in the stores and she educated me about the cilantro. Since then, it became easier to locate Cilantro for coriander leaves.
Phew the cultural things…but great learning experiences that make a journey fun, fulfilling and worth while…
Coriander Chutney is given a lot of importance in Ayurveda. It is an Essential Chutney of any Indian Kitchen. It is advised to consume 1-3 tbsp of Chutney everyday with meals during a day. It is full of minerals and vitamins, especially, it is rich in micro-nutrients. Coriander chutney has adequate amount of vitamin A, B, C & E along with minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron and magnesium. Coriander recipe is one of the best appetizers as it aids in digestive juice secretion. Coriander chutney is also beneficial in constipation, piles, stomach pain, cough, throat pains, blood sugar and fever. It is antiseptic in nature. (Click for Information source)
This is how I make this Indian Classic Hari Chutney. (Hari means Green)
Few ingredients and a quick churn, resulting in delicious and nutritious dip.
Green Coriander Chutney
Author – Sonal @ simplyvegetarian777
Cuisine – Indian
Type – Dips & Chutneys
Kitchen Equipments Required
Chopping board, a good high speed blender.
Ingredients
Coriander leaves or Cilantro leaves with tender stems – 1 big bunch
Ginger – 1 small piece
Green chillies – 1 to 2 small, depending upon how hot you want the chutney
Amchur/ Dry Mango Powder or Lemon Juice – 2 tsp amchur or 1&1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Kala Namak / Rock Salt – 1/2 tsp
Water – 3 tbsp
Method
- Wash your coriander or cilantro leaves and green chillies really well. We do not need any trace of mud or sand in chutney.
- Do not remove the stems of the coriander bunch. Remove only the ones that are too thick and woody. Remove any dirty leaves.
- Remove the stem of chillies.
- Roughly chop the leaves, ginger and green chllies.
- Add all the above mentioned ingredients in to your high energy blender along with 3 tbsp water. Use very little water since we do not want our chutney runny. Add water as required, 1/2 tsp at a time, if needed more.
- Puree the ingredients into a fine chutney.
Notes & Storage
- A high speed and efficient blender is a must for good chutney. Vitamix, Ninja etc etc all are good. I use my small and humble MAGIC BULLET to make my chutneys. The best thing ever. Cheap and consistent and never disappointing.
- Store in an air tight container and refrigerate. In earlier days, fresh chutney was on the menu everyday, but given the current busy life styles, you may refrigerate it for up to a week. Though the chutney starts loosing the flavor by 4th day, so fresher the better. You may also, make a big batch and freeze the individual portions. When needed, take out the frozen chutney, thaw at room temperature or overnight in the refrigertor.
Uses
It is a very versatile dip or chutney. It can be used as a dipping condiment along side with your fritters, savories and wraps. It can be used as a spread for sandwiches, subs and hoagies. It can be tossed with cooked rice and eaten as chutney rice. Aloo chutney raita is another great dish to prepare with it. The perfect use is with all Chaats like papdi, bhel. tikki, etc. Goes so well with Global Fame Golden Samosa. Phew….the list can go on.
A perfect chutney that I often make in my Indian American Kitchen. Do bookmark this recipe when you want to make it at home. I am guaranteeing you that you will disapprove of restaurant served or market bought bottled hari chutney.
Sonal
I can really think of a lot of things that this chutney would be so good with! I loved reading your experience. It would be difficult getting acclimated in a new culture, and I can see how it would be very frustrating!
Thanks Julie.
1 year was less to understand UK and the culture Julie. It’s such an old culture with so much history, immigrants, food impact, inter weaving of people etc… But it was a great experience. We traveled a lot of mainland Europe!!
Sonal travel is just the best education. It was always so important that our children were well traveled. I love it and hope we get to do a lot more of it.
So true
I totally understand about the cultural differences Sonal. Now, I am so used to cilantro, I get weird looks back in India if I say cilantro. So, I am extra careful. :). – Sreelatha
I hear ya Sree …
Many Indian readers ask me what is cilantro when I forget to mention it is coriander…
I will share the okra and lady finger story some other time with you
Looking forward to it. 🙂
We can’t live without our daily dose of humble chutneys .Love reading your experiences and the benefits of chutney. Love it to the core.
Thank you dear ❤️
Love the thick texture of your Coriander Chutney, Sonal! 🙂
Thanks dear ❤️
How true! Along with Kohinoor, our curries and chutneys also travelled to Queen’s place. This hari chutney looks absolutely vibrant and flavourful!
Thanks Saritha ❤️
Hey what a fun read it was Sonal with your experience in UK. We have Greggs around the corner.. but I beg to differ on having similarities with Indian Cuisine.
But Yes !! Chutney’s are quite an exotic thing out here. And its a coincidence.. I am making Coriander chutney today.
Thanks Sandhya 🙂
With the similarities I meant the baked goods :)… The amount of sweetness and the quality of bakery is similar 🙂
Love this!! I see coriander chutney alongside so many dishes and I’ve made my version of it, so it’s good to have your recipe to refer to to get it right
So funny to read about your love of Greggs, I’ve never even entered a Greggs and have absolutely no desire to, so it’s interesting to read your take on their produce – I still won’t be going in there though!
Thanks Elaine :).
Greggs was the only bakery in that small town village ;).
I’m surprised you didn’t set up in business and show them what good food was about?!