10 Chutneys With Chutzpah

The relishes and sauces served on the side aren’t mere accompaniments to dishes. Try these 10 indian chutneys to jazz up everyday meals with flavour and texture

- Pooja Naik

Every superhero needs a sidekick, just like Batman needs Robin. And the food universe is no exception. Imagine this: you’re ravenous, awaiting your turn at a street food stall where pakoras bubble in oil and chubby pavs soak up butter to become dabelis. Just as the vendor hands you the samosas you’ve been eyeing beadily, he says he’s run out of the green and tamarind-jaggery chutneys that make a samosa, samosa. The horror!

Gujarat has the sambharo, Goa its horvem, and Tamil Nadu molagai podi—the relishes, sauces, and chutneys eaten across India aren’t mere accompaniments to dishes; they’re often the stars that bring the chutzpah, elevating everyday meals with flavour and texture. “There is no ingredient that cannot find a place in chutney. It’s a zero-waste dish by itself,” says Chef Velton Saldanha, founder of Chutney Collective, a Mumbai-based startup that bottles regional variations of the condiment. “On my summer trips to visit my grandmother in Mangalore, I noticed that even the skin of the palm fruit was used in cooking,” he remembers. Field workers would often eat the pulp for lunch, and save the peel for breakfast the next morning, which was then ground to a make a spicy chutney and savoured with dosa.

Saldanha picks his 10 favourite chutneys, made from mild flowers, seafood, fiery red ants, and a host of other ingredients.

Karuvadu Takaali Chutney, Puducherry