Easy Recipe: Cilantro-Mint Chutney

Dana Velden
Dana Velden
Dana Velden's first book, Finding Yourself in the Kitchen: Kitchen Meditations and Inspired Recipes from a Mindful Cook (Rodale Books) is available where ever books are sold. She lives in Oakland, CA.
published Nov 9, 2009
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

My untraditional use of chutney may have been influenced by the fact that it came to me in a very international way: from an Israeli woman whom I met at a Thai Buddhist temple in San Diego. She got it from a German woman who got the recipe while in India.

Mint-Cilantro Chutney
makes about 1-1/2 cups
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch mint
1-3 serrano chiles, destemmed and rough chopped
thumb-sized knob of ginger, peeled
1/3 cup cashews
1/3 cup golden raisins (I used golden)
salt
Juice from one lemon

Make sure your herbs are washed and dried. Pick the leaves off of the mint and the cilantro. Don’t worry too much if there are some cilantro stalks–they have a lot of good flavor.
Stuff the herbs into a small food processor or blender and add the chile. I usually start with one because chiles can vary in heat. It’s possible to add more later. Pulse the processor until the herbs and chiles are ground.
Add the ginger, cashews, raisins, a healthy pinch of salt and about half the lemon juice. Pulse again: the mixture should be pasty. Add a good splash of water–about 1/3 cup and pulse again. Taste and adjust seasonings. More lemon for sour, or salt or chili may be needed. If the mixture is still too stiff, add more water.
The chutney should keep in your refrigerator for a few days if kept well-sealed.

(Images: Dana Velden)

Filed in:
indian
sauce
vegan
vegetarian