Tamarind Chutney is also known as Imli chutney (Imli is the Hindi word for tamarind). Tamarind chutney is a spiced, sweet and tangy sauce served with Indian chaat snacks or fried snacks like samosa, kachori or pakoda.

In this post I am sharing two delish tamarind chutney recipes:

1. Easy Tamarind Chutney
2. Tamarind Dates Chutney

About this Easy Tamarind Chutney

This is a family recipe of Tamarind chutney which is so good and finger-licking tasty. We also call this chutney as as saunth chutney or sonth chutney as this chutney is spiced with ground ginger powder.

Dried ginger roots or dry ginger powder is also called as ‘Saunth’ or ‘Soonth’ in Hindi. Hence the name of this condiment.

The consistency of this imli chutney is slightly thick with a smooth texture. It has the sourness of tamarind balanced with the sweetness of the jaggery (Indian unrefined sugar made from sugarcane juice) and the earthiness and mild hotness coming from the dry ginger powder, cumin and red chili powder.

This tamarind chutney is often used in North Indian chaat snacks like dahi vada, samosa chaat, aloo tikki chaat etc. It is also served with samosa, kachori, pani puri and pakora.

You can store this imli ki meethi chutney in an air-tight bottle in the fridge and it lasts well for 4 to 5 months.

We always make this chutney with dried tamarind which is easily available in India. If you live outside India, then buy the tamarind from amazon or in your asian or Indian grocery store.

You can use tamarind paste or concentrate for the chutney. Depending on the tartness of the concentrate or paste, you will have to adjust the quantity of water and jaggery.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to make Tamarind Chutney

1: Soak the tamarind in water, overnight or for 4 to 5 hours.

2: With your hands, squeeze the pulp from the tamarind in the same bowl or pan. Strain the pulp and keep aside.

3: Heat oil in small pan. Fry the cumin seeds first. Keep the heat to a low. Then add the spice powders – dry ginger powder, asafoetida (hing) and red chilli powder. Mix well.

4: Then add the strained tamarind pulp. Cook for 2 to 3 mins.

5: Add the jaggery and salt. Mix well. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or more time until the consistency thickens.

6: When cooled, store the imli chutney in an air-tight dry jar or container. Refrigerate and serve whenever required.

Tips

Expert Tips

• Consistency: The consistency of the chutney can be altered easily. Simply alter the amount of water and you can make the imli chutney slightly thin or thick as per your requirements.
• Jaggery: Jaggery is unrefined sugar made from sugarcane juice. If you cannot get jaggery then add sugar. The taste will be little different with sugar. You can easily add about ½ cup of sugar. If required you can always add more sugar.
• Scaling: This recipe can be easily halved or doubled.
• Tamarind: Dried tamarind is easily available in India. If you cannot get dried tamarind then use ½ cup of tamarind paste or concentrate. Depending on the tartness of the concentrate or paste, you will have to adjust the quantity of water and jaggery.
• Storage: You can easily store tamarind chutney in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 months. You can even freeze it to last longer. Simply thaw before using.

Serving Suggestions

1. Dipping Sauce: Serve tamarind chutney as a side condiment dip with Indian snacks like pakoda, samosa, kachori, aloo tikki. n fact even with potato wedges or french fries, this chutney pairs fabulously.
2. Topping or mixing sauce: You can even use it as a topping sauce for chaat snacks like dahi vada, sev puri, pani puri, dahi puri, katori chaat, bhel puri or any chaat snack.

More Tasty Indian Chutney Recipes

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About Tamarind Dates Chutney

This is an again an easy Sweet Chutney made with tamarind, dates and jaggery that tastes so good.

I learnt this tamarind dates chutney in my cooking school and have been following the recipe since then.

This sweet chutney can be had for making chaat items like pani puri, bhel puri, sev puri, aloo tikki and even samosa or pakoras. It is a one-stop chutney recipe solution for all your chaat and fried savory snacks.

This chutney recipe yields about 1.5 cups of chutney. Make it and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It stays good for about a couple of months.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to make Tamarind Dates Chutney

1. In a pan, take the seedless tamarind, seedless dates and water. Cook for about 8 to 9 mins on a low heat. The tamarind and dates should soften.

2. Add powdered or grated jaggery and mix well.

3. Let the jaggery dissolve and the mixture thicken a bit. Add all the spice powders, salt and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more.

4. The chutney mixture is ready now. Let it cool.

5. In a grinder, pour the entire chutney mixture. Grind the chutney in a grinder till smooth. Add some water if required while grinding. If you prefer, you can strain the chutney through a strainer. Store the Sweet Tamarind Dates Chutney in airtight bowl or container in the refrigerator.

Add the sweet tangy dates chutney to the chaat or Indian snacks that you make at home. In the pics the chutney is served as well as added to ragda pattice –  a popular Mumbai street food. You can also serve it with chaat snacks like bread pakora, veg cutlet, bread roll, onion pakoda, hara bhara kabab etc.

This recipe post from the archives (November 2013) has been republished and updated on 17 September 2020.