From the recipe box
Tamarind Jaggery Chutney
Chaat, vadas, and snackable plates to open a meal or carry to the couch.
- Meal format
- Appetizers & Chaats
- Base
- Snack plate
From my kitchenCook this meal
Ingredients & method
- Prep
- 10 mins
- Cook
- 20 mins
- Total
- 30 mins
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- ½ cuptamarind paste (seedless/imli)
- 2 cupswarm water (for soaking)
- ¾–1 cupjaggery, grated (adjust based on desired sweetness)
- to tasteSalt
- 1 teaspoonroasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoonred chili powder
- 1 teaspoonchaat masala
- ½ teaspoondry ginger powder (sonth)
- ¼ teaspoonblack salt
Notes & Tips
- This chutney is all about balancing flavors — the tamarind gives the tang, jaggery gives sweetness, and the spices bring everything together.
- You can customize the sweetness and texture:
- Add dates along with jaggery for a naturally sweeter, richer chutney with a thicker texture.
- Blend in soaked dates and jaggery together for a date-tamarind chutney variation.
- Add a little extra roasted cumin and chili for a more street-style chaat flavor.
- This chutney freezes beautifully. Make a large batch and store it in freezer-safe jars or ice cube trays for easy use later.
- If the chutney becomes too thick after refrigeration, simply loosen it with a little warm water before serving.
- I also loosen this chutney up a little and store it in a squeeze bottle to put on tacos and wraps!
Step by step
Method
- 01
If you don’t have tamarind paste – start here: Add 75-100 grams tamarind to a bowl and soak it in warm water for 15–20 minutes until softened.
- 02
Mash the soaked tamarind well with your hands or a spoon to extract the pulp.
- 03
Strain the tamarind mixture through a sieve, pressing the pulp well to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the seeds and fibers.
- 04
Transfer the tamarind pulp to a saucepan.
- 05
Add grated jaggery and salt. Cook on medium heat until the jaggery melts completely.
- 06
Add roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, chaat masala, dry ginger powder, and black salt (if using).
- 07
Simmer for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chutney thickens slightly. Remember that it will continue to thicken as it cools.
- 08
Taste and adjust:
- 09
Cool completely and store in an airtight jar.
- 10
This Tamarind Jaggery Chutney is the perfect sweet, tangy, and spicy chutney for chaats, samosas, pakoras, kachori, pani puri, ragada chaat, and dahi puri.
