Easy Tomato Chutney

Tomato chutney is an easy-to-make spicy Indian-style dip recipe prepared using tomatoes as the main ingredient, along with onion, garlic, and chili, in less than 15 minutes. This tastes best when served with Idli, dosa, steamed rice, and chapati.

Jump to:

• Why you'll love this recipe
• Ingredients
• Varaiations and Substitutions
• Step-by-step instructions
• Tips
• Serving suggestions
• Recipe FAQs
• More chutney recipes to try
• Recipe card
• User Reviews

Why you'll love this recipe

1. Thakkali chutney is made using basic ingredients in less than 15 minutes from start to end.
2. This can be served with anything from breakfast dosa, Idli, paniyaram, and uttapam to chapathi and rice for lunch and dinner and with snacks like sandwiches, pakoras, nachos, kebabs, chips, and more.
3. Tamatar ki chutney is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy free.
4. The tomato chutney recipe is very flexible. You can adjust all the ingredients to taste. You can also make this oil-free if you are on a weight-loss diet.

While you are here, also check out our popular five different chutney recipes for Idli, dosa, garlic chutney or लहसुन की चटनी, hing chutney, village-style chutney.

This post is also featured on BuzzFeed for 10 Amazingly delicious dips that aren't hummus.

Ingredients

Onion: I use red onions for cooking; I like the flavor it adds to the dish. You can use white or yellow onions, shallots, or pearl onions (sambar onions).
Garlic cloves: It pairs very well with onion and tomato. For the best flavor, always use fresh garlic cloves.
Almonds, cashews, or peanuts: I like to make my chutney a little sweet, creamy, and rich by adding nuts. Cashew is my all-time favorite for chutney and Indian gravy. You can substitute it with almonds or roasted peanuts.
Tomatoes: Ripe, fresh, and juicy tomatoes are key here. Canned tomatoes will work but will give a totally different flavor.
Green chilies: I have added the green chilies raw. You can saute it along with tomatoes if you want to reduce the heat.
Asafoetida: Hing is another flavor I like adding to my chutneys. You can skip it but only add what is mentioned. Too much will spoil the dish.
Coriander leaves: Fresh herbs always take your dish to the next level.
Salt to taste
Red chile powder: Add if the heat from green chile is not sufficient.
Coconut oil: I use coconut oil in my traditional South Indian cooking. But feel free to use the oil of your choice. If you are making the chutney oil-free, then skip it.

See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Varaiations and Substitutions

Tomato pachadi Andhra style: A popular Andhra-style no onion, no garlic version of tomato chutney. This is made using mustard seeds, chana dal, urad dal, asafoetida, curry leaves, dry red chilies, tomatoes, tamarind, and coriander leaves.
Tomato coconut chutney: Add 2 tablespoon of coconut while grinding to make it thick and rich.
Tomato ginger chutney: If you skip the garlic, add ginger to make the chutney.
Pudina tomato chutney: Along with coriander leaves, add a few mint leaves. This gives a totally different flavor.
Green tomato chutney: The recipe remains the same. Make sure you use unripe green tomatoes or tomatillos to make this variety.
Tomato peanut chutney: Add ¼ cup of roasted peanuts while grinding.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and garlic clove. Add a pinch of salt and saute till it becomes translucent.

Step 2: Add the tomatoes and asafoetida and saute till tomatoes become soft.

Step 3: Add the coriander leaves and saute for a minute. Then switch off the flame.

Step 4: In a blender, add the sauteed ingredients, green chilies, and cashews (or peanuts or almonds) and blend it with very little water to form a thick, smooth paste.

Step 5: Transfer this to a bowl. Adjust the salt and spiciness with the chile powder. (tempering is optional, check tips).

Tips

• The tempering enhances the flavor and takes your dish to the next level. But if you are diet conscious or want to keep it healthy, you can skip the tempering. (For tempering, heat 2 teaspoon of oil. Add ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon urad dal, four curry leaves, one dry red chile broken, and one garlic clove crushed and saute until urad dal turns golden in color. Add this to the chutney) 
• If you are adding almonds instead of cashews or peanuts, make sure you soak them for easy blending. 
• You can add ginger if desired.
• Vary the spiciness as per your taste. 
• You can combine red chile and green chiles in chutney to make spicy tomato chili chutney. 
• If you want to reduce the heat in the chutney, you can saute the green chiles along with tomatoes instead of adding them raw. 

Serving suggestions

Not sure how to use this chutney? The following serving options will push you to make this chutney and keep it in your refrigerator.
You can serve tomato chutney with

1. South Indian breakfast recipes like dosa and idli, uttapam, paniyaram, pongal and vada.
2. Spread it on burgers, sandwiches, chapati, and bread toast.
3. Serve it as a side with tacos, chips, parathas, pakoras, cutlets, samosa, and tikki.
4. Hot steamed rice drizzled with ghee and yogurt on the side. Total comfort food.

Recipe FAQs

More chutney recipes to try

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