South Indian · Side dish
Peanut chutney (South Indian groundnut chutney)
Peanut chutney is a creamy, nutty dip made from roasted groundnuts blended with red chillies, a little tamarind and garlic. It takes about 15 minutes, keeps longer than coconut chutney and goes with almost every South Indian breakfast. A tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves finishes it off.
- Prep5 min
- Cook10 min
- Total15 min
- Servings4
- Per serving≈120 kcal
Ingredients
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Method
- Dry roast the peanuts in a pan over medium-low heat for 6–7 minutes, stirring often, until golden with a few dark spots and the skins crack. Tip them onto a plate.
- In the same pan, roast the red chillies for 30–60 seconds until crisp. Let everything cool for a few minutes.
- Rub the peanuts between your palms to loosen the skins and blow or pick them away.
- Blend the peanuts, chillies, garlic, tamarind and salt with 1/2 cup water to a smooth, thick chutney. Add a little more water if needed and transfer to a bowl.
- Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds; when they splutter, add the urad dal and curry leaves and fry until the dal turns golden. Pour over the chutney and stir.
About this dish
Peanut chutney is made all over South India. It is called palli chutney or palli pachadi in Telugu, verkadalai chutney in Tamil and kadlekai chutney in Kannada. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana it is the standard partner for idli, dosa and upma at street-side tiffin centres, often served alongside a ginger chutney and a hot podi.
Because it uses no fresh coconut, peanut chutney is a good choice where coconut is hard to find or when you want a chutney that keeps for a day or two. Roasting the peanuts well brings out their flavour; removing the skins makes the chutney smoother and lighter in colour. Some cooks add a few tablespoons of coconut or roasted chana dal to the blend.
Tips
- Use ready roasted unsalted peanuts to save time; skip step 1 and reduce the salt if they are salted.
- The chutney thickens as it stands, so loosen it with a spoon of warm water before serving.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Serve with
Serve with idli, dosa, pesarattu or rava upma.
Goes well with: Idli, Plain Dosa, Pesarattu
