Cilantro Mint Chutney

Originally published August 2, 2012. Updated on 9/29/2022

My flavorful cilantro mint chutney recipe, and an update on The Glass House...

As you may have heard, my friend Stephanie left The Glass House yesterday. What a wild day... and the end of two LONG months of work for a few of us.

The running jokes all centered around feelings of "being released from jail", and having NO idea what we'll do with this new-found "spare time".

To me, it was an excuse to cook a big elaborate meal.

Partially just because I COULD, partially to thank my husband for putting up with me the last two months.

His intelligent nerdy wife had devolved into someone incapable of having a conversation about anything other than reality TV - he's a saint for being so patient with me!

Supper last night?

Three different kinds of Pakora. OMG, was it ever good!

I'll be posting the recipes for each* - eventually - but I wanted to get the recipe for the cilantro-mint chutney up, while I have a few minutes to blog.

* I’ve since posted those pakora recipes - and several more! See the links towards the bottom of ths post!

Coriander Mint Chutney

Cilantro Mint Chutney is a popular condiment in Indian cooking, and pairs so perfectly with a plateful of Pakora.

This was *AMAZING* - easily the best we've ever had. I tweaked what I could taste in such chutneys that we've had before, adjusting for personal tastes.

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that we went through an entire batch of it last night, between the two of us!

Anyway, coriander mint chutney is the tangy green chutney that is served along a variety of dishes in Indian restaurants.

One of the most popular chutneys, it’s a bright sauce, both in colour and flavour, with the cilantro and cool mint combination providing perfect accompaniment and complement to spicy Indian cuisine.

It’s a versatile green chutney, served alongside Indian snacks, Indian appetizers, and main course options, alike!

As with many other chutney recipes you may find served with an Indian meal (tamarind chutney, mango chutney, coconut chutney...), this easy mint cilantro chutney really shines as a dipping sauce.

Serve it with those pakoras, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka - or paneer tikka! - or any number of other popular dishes.

Over the course of the past couple of years - with access to all kinds of fabulous Indian grocers locally! - we’ve gone through a ton of bhel puri and sev puri - popular Indian street food options - which are available as bagged snack foods here.

... and this Indian green sauce goes well on both. Truly as delight to the taste buds.

The best part?

This mint coriander chutney recipe takes about 5 minutes to make.

Chop a couple ingredients, put everything in a food processor, and you’ve got yourself a jar of this green chutney in no time at all!

Ingredients

This is a super simple recipe, using fresh ingredients that should be easily found in most grocery stores.

It takes less than 5 minutes to whip up a batch of this, and nets you about a cup and a quarter of dip.

I have a few notes on the main ingredients:

Fresh Cilantro Leaves

This recipe uses 2 bunches of cilantro - AKA coriander leaves - which is about 3 cups.

Use cilantro that smells and looks fresh, removing any browned or yellowed leaves before chopping it up.

Lightly pack your cilantro - stems and all - into your measuring cup to measure. It’s a gently compressed measure, not loose measure!

Fresh Mint Leaves

Unlike the cilantro, you’ll want to pick the leaves off the mint stems before measuring just the leaves - you’ll want about 1 ½ cup of mint leaves.

Use just healthy, green leaves, discard anything yellowed, browned, or wilted.

Jalapeno Pepper

Generally speaking, I tend to have easier access to jalapeno peppers than any other kind of green chilies, so that’s what I use.

If you have access to other green chilies, feel free to use those.

For a more mild chutney, you can cut the amount, or leave it out.

Lime Juice

I tend to use about ½ a large lime worth of juice, which is about 1 Tablespoon.

Sometimes I’ll just use all the juice from it, if I have no real use for the rest of it. Sometimes I’ll use a tablespoon - or two! - of lemon juice, instead.

It’s all good!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you’ll need:

Garlic cloves
Cumin Powder (you can use Cumin Seeds if you prefer!)
Granulated sugar
Salt

Creamy Cilantro Chutney

If you’d like, you can use a little yogurt - unsweetened, plain - in place of the water, for a creamy version of this dip.

How to Make Cilantro Mint Chutney

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is a pictorial walk through.

Juice your lime, rough chop your pepper, mint, and cilantro.

Blitz ingredients together in a food processor until cilantro is finely chopped, and the chutney is a nice, smooth paste.

If it’s too thick, add a little water and blitz again.

Transfer to an air tight container, store in fridge until ready to use it

Will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so.

Note: This recipe works better in a food processor, a blender jar will need more water to get going than you need in a food processor. Start with an extra 2 tablespoons of water if using a blender.

Leftovers

You can store leftovers in the fridge - in an airtight container - for several days.

Just a head’s up - the green color of the chutney will change, turning to a darker olive green colour.

Alternatively, you can portion out your chutney into ice cube trays and freeze it. (You might want to make a big batch, if you’re planning to freeze it!)

Once frozen, transfer chutney ice cubes to a freezer bag and return to the freezer.

Then, just take out a few frozen cubes at a time, and allow them to thaw / warm to room temperature before use.

More Indian Recipes....

Love Indian food? Be sure to check out these other fabulous Indian - and Indian inspired - recipes!

Aloo Pakora
Butter Chicken Recipe
Chicken Pakora
Chicken Shahi Korma Recipe
Cilantro Chicken Recipe
Corn Pakora
Cucumber Raita
Gobi Pakora
Mango Lassi Popsicles Recipe
Mixed Vegetable Pakoras
Mushroom Pakora
Onion Pakoda
Palak Pakoda
Paneer Burgers Recipe
Paneer Pakora
Samosa Recipe
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Burger with Mango Recipe

Specialty Diet Versions

Looking for gluten-free and/or low carb Indian recipes*? Here are a few from my other blogs:

Gluten-Free Samosas
Keto Chicken Biryani
Low Carb Butter Chicken
Keto Chicken Korma
Low Carb Shrimp Curry

* Note: A lot of the above recipes are inherently gluten free, so not included in the “specialty diet” section.

Share the Love!

Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

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