Tamarind chutney or Dates chutney is a sweet, tangy, must-try Indian condiment served with snacks and chaats like samosa, pakora, pani puri, and kachori.
Check out the list of best and easy Indian snacks and chaats recipe.
About Tamarind Chutney
Tamarind chutney, also called imli ki chutney or sweet chutney for chaat, is a sweet and tangy condiment or sauce made using tamarind, jaggery, and/or dates (khajoor) and dry ginger powder or fresh ginger as the key ingredients.
Indian chaats and evening snacks, especially the ones on the street side, are incomplete without a side of sweet chutney made with tamarind and dates and green chutney made with mint and coriander leaves.
You can always make this chutney ahead of time and store it in an airtight conatiner in a refrigerator for up to two months. Use as and when required with your favorite chaat or snack.
Some also refer to this chatni as khajoor imli chutney or meethi chutney in Hindi, saunth or sonth chutney, or as Indian tamarind sauce or dip.
How do you serve dates chutney or tamarind chutney?
You can eat or use these dates or tamarind chutney in multiple ways.
- Use it as a dip for Indian snacks like crispy samosa, vegetable pakoras, street-style kachori, or fried evening snacks.
- Serve as a condiment with fried tofu, fresh summer spring rolls or grilled meat, nachos, etc.
- To make Indian chaats like aloo chana chaat, kacchi dabeli, dahi bhalla, bread chaat, bhel puri, pani puri, dahi aloo, dahi vada.
- Use this Indian tamarind sauce as a marinade or a glaze for chicken pork that you are going to grill or roast.
- You can also use it as a unique salad dressing. Check this chickpea and potato salad.
Ingredients
To make the best and easy tamarind and dates chutney, you will need deseeded tamarind (imli), seedless dates (khajur), dry ginger powder, or fresh ginger as key ingredients.
We use aromatic powder like red chile, cumin, coriander, saunf or fennel, chaat masala, and salt or black salt pinch to enhance the flavor.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
- Add dates, tamarind, jaggery, and ginger with ½ to 1 cup of water in a mixie jar or grinder to a smooth paste.
- Transfer this to a pan. Turn on the flame. Add red chile powder, cumin powder, saunf powder, coriander powder, chaat masala, and a pinch of salt with an additional ½ to 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Once the chutney cools down completely, store them in an airtight conatiner or glass jar in the refrigerator. You can keep this for atleast one month.
Substitutes
- If you do not want to add dates, increase the jaggery to another ¼ cup.
- Jaggery can be substituted with brown sugar or regular sugar.
- You can skip all the optional ingredients and simply add ½ teaspoon of garam masala powder.
Tips
- Adjust all the ingredients to your liking.
- The chutney thickens as it cools down. So before you add it to the chaat, take a spoonful of chutney as needed in a bowl, add hot water to get the desired consistency, and serve.
- If you are skipping dates, then reduce the amount of water you add to the imli chutney.
- You may have to adjust the amount of tamarind based on the weather you are using, paste, concentrate, etc. If the tamarind is too sour, you may have to add ¼ cup, and if using the deseeded ones from the Indian store, add ½ cup. If using concentrate, ¼ cup is sufficient.
More Chutney Recipes
Recipe FAQs
This chutney can be stored in the refrigerator once it cools down completely in an airtight conatiner or mason jar for up to 2 months. Use a clean spoon when you need it every time.
Yes. You can freeze it in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Thaw before using to get the desired consistency.
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Recipe card
Tamarind Chutney | Dates Chutney | Sweet Chutney for Chaat
Equipment
- Mixie Jar
Ingredients
- ½ cup Medjool dates (15 seedless dates or khajoor, check notes)
- ½ cup Tamarind check notes
- ½ cup Jaggery gur
- ½ inch Ginger ( or ½ teaspoon Ginger powder)
- 1 teaspoon Red chile powder
- ½ teaspoon Cumin powder roasted
- ½ teaspoon Saunf or fennel powder roasted, optional
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder roasted, optional
- ¼ teaspoon Chaat masala
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
How to make tamarind chutney or dates chutney?
- Add dates, tamarind, jaggery, and ginger with ½ to 1 cup of water in a mixie jar or grinder to a smooth paste.½ cup Medjool dates, ½ cup Tamarind, ½ cup Jaggery, ½ inch Ginger
- Transfer this to a pan. Turn on the flame. Add red chile powder, cumin powder, saunf powder, coriander powder, chaat masala, and a pinch of salt with an additional ½ to 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.1 teaspoon Red chile powder, ½ teaspoon Cumin powder, ½ teaspoon Saunf or fennel powder, 1 teaspoon Coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon Chaat masala, Salt, to taste
- Once the chutney cools down completely, store them in an airtight conatiner or glass jar in the refrigerator. You can keep this for atleast one month.
Notes
- Adjust all the ingredients to your liking.
- The chutney thickens as it cools down. So before you add it to the chaat, take a spoonful of chutney as needed in a bowl, add hot water to get the desired consistency, and serve.
- If you are skipping dates, then reduce the amount of water you add to the imli chutney.
- You may have to adjust the amount of tamarind based on the weather you are using, paste, concentrate, etc. If the tamarind is too sour, you may have to add ¼ cup, and if using the deseeded ones from the Indian store, add ½ cup. If using concentrate, ¼ cup is sufficient.
Substitutes
- If you do not want to add dates, increase the jaggery to another ¼ cup.
- Jaggery can be substituted with brown sugar or regular sugar.
- You can skip all the optional ingredients and add ½ teaspoon of garam masala powder.
Nutrition
This post for dates or tamarind chutney was first published in 2015 Nov. Updated with more uses, recipe maker, and calorie information.
Ashu Rahim
I liked your recipe the chutney is very good
Kushi
Thank you so much 🙂