chutney

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney

The word "chutney" derives from the Sanskrit word caṭnī, meaning to lick.

Types and preparation[edit]

Chutneys can be made from almost any combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Chutneys are usually grouped into sweet or hot forms; both forms usually contain spices, including chili, but differ by their main flavours.

Vinegar, citrus, tamarind, or lemon juice may be added as natural preservatives, or fermentation in the presence of salt may be used to create acid. The first chutneys in India would have been sticky fruit based preserves. Sugar, although available in India, was not widely cultivated. This lead to the chutneys being used as more of a savory dipping sauce rather than a condiment.

Chutneys may be ground with a mortar and pestle or an ammikkal (Tamil). Spices are added and ground, usually in a particular order; the wet paste thus made is sautéed in vegetable oil, usually gingelly (sesame) or groundnut (peanut) oil. Electric blenders orfood processors can be used as labor-saving alternatives to stone grinding.

American and European-style chutneys are usually fruit, vinegar and sugar, cooked down to a reduction, with added flavorings. These may include sugar, salt, garlic, tamarind, onion, or ginger.^[2]

Spices commonly used in chutneys include fenugreek, coriander, cumin and asafoetida (hing). Other prominent ingredients and combinations include cilantro, capsicum, mint (coriander and mint chutneys are often called hari chutney, where hari is Hindi for "green"),Tamarind or Imli (often called meethi chutney, as meethi in Hindi means "sweet")l, Sooth (or saunth, made with dates and ginger),Coconut, Onion, Prune, Tomato, Red chili, Green chili, mango Lime(made from whole, unripe limes), garlic, coconut, peanut, Dahi, Green tomato, Dhaniya pudina (cilantro and mint), Peanut (shengdana chutney in Marathi), Ginger, Yogurt, red chili powder, Tomatoonion chutney,^[3] Cilantro mint coconut chutney^[4] and apricot.^[5]

Major Grey's Chutney is a type of sweet and spicy chutney popular in the United Kingdom and the United States. The recipe was reportedly created by a 19th-century British Army officer of the same name (likely apocryphal) who presumably lived in Colonial India. Its characteristic ingredients are mango, raisins, vinegar, lime juice, onion, tamarind extract, sweetening and spices. Several companies produce a Major Grey's Chutney, in the UK, the US, and India.