Red Chilli Chutney Recipe

During a trip to India a few years ago I ate this red chilli chutney in a little restaurant round the corner from where we were staying. It was blistering hot but incredibly good.

Why Use Red Chillies Specifically?

Red chillies have been left on the plant longer than green ones, which means the sugars have had more time to develop. The result is a noticeably sweeter, fruitier flavour that works beautifully in a chutney, balancing the sharpness of the vinegar and the warmth of the spices. If you’re growing your own, this is the perfect recipe to make in late summer and early autumn when your plants are producing a glut of ripe red chillies.

For a guide to knowing exactly when your chillies are ready to harvest, see our article on when chilli peppers are ripe.

Red Chilli Chutney Ingredients

15 fresh red chillies

9 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

1/2 cup of natural yogurt

Method

Roughly chop the chillies and soak in a small amount of water for a couple of hours. Them remove them from the water and grind them up in a pestle and mortar, adding the rest of the ingredients. If necessary add a little of the water the chillies were soaking in until you end up with a smooth paste.

Next add the yogurt and stir thoroughly. Serve at room temperature with Indian mains or with some poppadoms and pickles.

More Recipes You Might Like

If you enjoyed this red chilli chutney recipe you might also like our chilli jelly recipe for another sweet preserve, or our chilli oil recipe for a quick way to preserve chillies without cooking. For something more unusual, our aji lemon mango sauce is a tropical alternative worth trying.