Ginger chutney is a delicious Indian condiment that tastes spicy, tangy & sweet. It is known as allam chutney and is eaten with breakfasts & snacks.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3 · 3 to 4
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp chana dal (or bengal gram (or substitute with peanuts))
  • 1 tbsp urad dal (or skinned black gram (optional))
  • 1 ½ inch ginger (or allam (sliced) (1 ½ by 1 ½ inch))
  • 1/3 tsp Salt (or as needed)
  • 2 to 4 red chilies ((adjust to suit your taste))
  • 1 tbsp Tamarind (or tamarind paste or lemon juice(adjust to suit your taste))
  • 1 tbsp jaggery
  • ½ tsp cumin (or jeera)
  • 1 large onion (cubed & layers separated)
  • 1 tbsp Oil (or as needed)
  • 1 tsp oil (or as needed)
  • 1 pinch mustard
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 pinch hing

Method

Preparation for allam chutney

  1. Wash ginger well, peel the skin and cut them to thick slices.
  2. Heat oil in a pan. Fry chana dal & urad dal until light golden. Add red chilies and saute until they turn crisp. Dal should become deep golden. Transfer these to a plate.
  3. Add onions and ginger. Saute until they turn pink or light golden. Do not brown the ginger. Add cumin and turn off the stove. You can also skip frying ginger to retain the medicinal benefits.
  4. Cool all the roasted ingredients. Soak tamarind in water for a while. You can also use tamarind directly if you prefer. Set this aside.

How to make ginger chutney

  1. Add all the cooled ingredients to a blender jar along with jaggery, little tamarind, salt and little water. Blend all these till smooth or coarse chutney to suit your taste.
  2. Add more water if needed to bring to consistency. Adjust salt, jaggery & tamarind as needed. Allam chutney should taste spicy, hot, sweet & tangy.

Tempering (optional)

  1. Heat a tbsp oil in a small pan. Add mustard, urad dal & red chilli. When the mustard splutters, add curry leaves. When they turn crisp, sprinkle hing. Turn off the stove and pour this over the allam chutney.
  2. Serve ginger chutney with pesarttu, dosa or idli.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.