Onion chutney recipe is a very popular South Indian chutney recipe made using onions and some spices usually served as a side with idli, dosa, upma or pongal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Indian, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 teaspoon split urad dal (split black gram) (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon split chana dal (split bengal gram) (optional)
  • 4-5 dried red chilies ((Byadgi or Kashmiri Red chilies))
  • 1 large onion ((about 1 cup))
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 stalk curry leaves
  • 1 small piece of tamarind
  • 1/2 teaspoon jaggery (optional)
  • salt (to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons water (or as needed, for blending)

Tempering:

  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • few curry leaves
  • 1 dried red chili
  • 1 pinch asafetida (hing)

Method

  1. In a pan, add oil. Once it's hot, add split urad dal, split chana dal, and dried red chilies. Saute till the dal turns light golden in color.
  2. Then add onions and garlic cloves and saute for 2-3 minutes until onions turn soft.
  3. Then add curry leaves, and saute till the onions turn light brown. Turn off the flame and cool the mixture completely.
  4. Once cooled, transfer the mixture into the blender. Add tamarind, jaggery, and salt and blend with no or very less water until smooth.
  5. Heat coconut oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds, dry red chili, curry leaves, and hing, and saute for a few seconds.
  6. Add the tempering and pour the tempering over the ground onion chutney.
  7. Serve onion chutney with idli or dosa.

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.