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Indian cooking / Dishes / Sarson Ki Chutney (Tandoori Home Cooking)
Sarson Ki Chutney (Tandoori Home Cooking) (Mustard Chutney)

Sarson Ki Chutney (Tandoori Home Cooking)

Mustard Chutney
VegetarianOrigin north and east of India

A thick, pungent mustard chutney sharpened with garlic and green chilli and softened with yoghurt. It tastes hot, tangy and slightly sweet, with a turmeric-infused oil poured over at the end.

Mustard base

63 gGround first and put into the serving bowl (step 1)
01
63 g6 tablespoons
spice
Grind to a coarse powder.

Turmeric for the oil

1.5 gFried in the hot oil (step 5)
01
1.5 g½ teaspoon
spice
Keep ground: it goes into the hot oil.

Everything else

01
60 g4 tablespoons
dairy
02
12 g4 cloves
aromatic
03
6 g4 chillies
vegetable
04
13 g3 teaspoons
sweetener
05
to taste
salt
06
14 g1 tablespoon
oil/fat

Method

  1. Grind the mustard base (63 g black mustard seed) in a blender to a coarse powder and tip it into a serving bowl.
  2. Put 12 g garlic, 8 g green bird's-eye chilli, 12.6 g caster sugar, salt to taste and 30 g of the 60 g greek yoghurt into the same blender; blend to a smooth paste.
  3. Scrape the paste into the bowl with the mustard base, add the remaining 30 g greek yoghurt and mix well.
  4. Heat 13.5 g vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
  5. Add the turmeric for the oil (1.5 g ground turmeric) and fry for a few seconds.
  6. Pour the flavoured oil over the chutney, stir well and serve immediately.

Don't have something?

Black mustard seed
  • Mustard seeds

    Use equal weight. Pop in hot fat until they crackle and turn greyish; yields an almost identical nutty, pungent finish.

  • Yellow mustard seeds

    Use equal weight. Fry over medium heat; delivers a milder, sweeter pop and turns bitter quickly if the oil is excessively hot.

Greek yoghurt
Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Green bird's eye chilli
  • Bird's eye green chilli

    Use the same weight; heat and flavour are very close.

  • Green chilli

    Use 1.5 to 2 times the weight; deseed for less heat. Larger chillies are more watery.

  • Fresh green chilli

    Use 1.5 to 2 times the weight; chop finely and adjust heat by tasting.

Caster sugar
  • Granulated sugar

    Use the same weight. It is slightly coarser, so stir a little longer to dissolve; in baking, grind briefly if a fine texture matters.

  • Demerara sugar

    Use the same weight, but dissolve it earlier as it is coarser. It adds a light caramel note and a little colour.

  • Ground jaggery or soft brown sugar

    Use the same weight; crush or grate jaggery first. It darkens the dish and adds molasses flavour, so reduce other liquid slightly.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Similar dishes

Burani Raita
Burani Raita is creamy, garlicky and lightly spiced, while this dish is thick, pungent, hot, tangy and slightly sweet.
  • Same: Burani Raita shares yoghurt, garlic, vegetable oil and salt with this dish.
  • Different: Burani Raita uses far more yoghurt, adds cumin, black pepper and coriander, and lacks black mustard seed, green chilli, sugar and turmeric.
Burnt Onion Raita
Burnt Onion Raita tastes charred, smoky and savoury with cool yogurt tang, while this dish tastes pungent, hot and tangy from mustard, garlic and green chilli, with slight sweetness and a turmeric-oil finish.
  • Same: Burnt Onion Raita shares Greek yoghurt, caster sugar and salt with this dish, and both are thick yogurt-based condiments.
  • Different: Burnt Onion Raita uses roasted blackened shallots as its main ingredient and lacks this dish's black mustard seed, garlic, green chilli, turmeric and vegetable oil; it is made by grinding charred shallots into yogurt, while this dish grinds mustard with yoghurt, garlic and chilli and pours turmeric oil over at the end.
Rajasthani Lehsun ka Achar
Spicy Garlic & Chilli Pickle
It tastes sharper from lime and mustard with a warm bittersweet masala and lingering garlic bite, while this dish is hot, tangy and slightly sweet with yoghurt softening the mustard.
  • Same: Rajasthani Lehsun ka Achar shares black mustard seed, turmeric and garlic with this dish, and both are pungent mustard-forward condiments with chilli heat.
  • Different: It uses mustard oil instead of vegetable oil, lime instead of yoghurt for souring, and adds kashmiri chilli powder, asafoetida, coriander, cumin, fenugreek and jaggery to whole garlic cloves, while this dish is a yoghurt-thickened chutney with green chilli and caster sugar.
Mattha/Chaas
Cooling Yoghurt Drink
Mattha/Chaas tastes light, tangy and cooling with a cumin-ginger kick, while this dish tastes hot, pungent and mustardy with slight sweetness.
  • Same: Mattha/Chaas shares Greek yoghurt, green bird's-eye chilli and salt with this dish.
  • Different: Mattha/Chaas adds water, cumin seed, fresh ginger and coriander, while it lacks this dish’s black mustard seed, garlic, caster sugar and turmeric-infused oil, and it is a thin whisked drink rather than a thick chutney.