Hotel style Ginger Chutney Recipe | Andhra Allam Chutney
Last Updated on March 11, 2023 by Santosh Allada
Hotel style Ginger Chutney Recipe with step-by-step pictures. This spicy, sweet, and tangy chutney is a great side dish for South Indian tiffins.
In South India, chutney is one of the most important accompaniments for the main dish. Chutneys come in many varieties, made from a vegetable, herbs, leafy vegetables, spices, or a combination of them.
There are many hotels, tiffin centers, or bandi (pushcart) that serve delicious breakfast items and put a smile on each of their customer’s faces. The unique selling point of these bandis is the different kinds of chutneys it serves, along with the regular food. These chutneys made even the boring idli finger-licking good.
What is Ginger Chutney?
Ginger Chutney is a classic Andhra style chutney in which the star ingredient is Ginger. In the Telugu language, the chutney is called Allam Pachadi.
Ginger chutney is not everyone’s cup of tea, including mine. Initially, I did not like the taste as it is bitter, sour, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. But, now I love the strong flavor of ginger in everything, be it in curry (veg or non-veg) or starters.
If you visit breakfast places in South India, chutneys made with coconut or peanut or fried gram, or a mix of all that is served generously as a side dish with the desired breakfast item. But, there are other types of concentrated chutney that are served in small portions for its strong flavors like tomato chutney or ginger chutney.
This allam chutney is usually made as an accompaniment to Pesarattu (whole moong dosa) in Telugu-speaking homes.
About Hotel style Ginger Chutney Recipe
Similar to conventional chutney, we need to fry fenugreek seeds, lentils (urad dal and bengal gram), coriander seeds, red chili, and ginger. All of the roasted ingredients are then ground to a smooth paste along with tamarind and jaggery.
There are myriad ways to make ginger chutney with subtle differences in the ingredients and their quantities. There is nothing authentic as far as the recipe for chutney goes. Like many dishes, it varies depending on hotels, street vendors, and families.
This vegan South Indian Chutney is spicy, with strong flavors. It is absolutely easy to make with only a few ingredients. There is a little bit of roasting, grinding, and prep work involved but it’s totally worth it.
The ginger chutney has a unique flavor profile – spicy, sweet, and sour.
Reasons to try
Hotel style recipe.
Simple to make.
Need the most basic ingredients.
No onion no garlic chutney recipe.
Tartness and sweetness give amazing flavor to the chutney.
Helps with digestion.
Can easily halve or double the recipe.
Pro Tips
Use fresh and tender ginger.
To neutralize the pungent taste of ginger, tamarind, and jaggery are used. So, do not skip them.
Roast the lentils and coriander seeds on a low flame.
Saute the ginger lightly for less time just to get rid of its raw flavor. Overcooking the ginger will make the chutney taste bitter.
In this recipe, I have used an equal quantity of ginger, tamarind, and jaggery. You can reduce the quantity of ginger and increase the quantity of tamarind and jaggery.
My version is spicy. You can adjust the quantity of dry red chilies, tamarind, and jaggery to suit your taste.
The tempering in this chutney is optional. Even without tempering the ginger chutney tastes good.
Ingredients
For the chutney
Ginger: The key ingredient in this chutney.
Oil: I have used neutral flavor oil.
Lentils: we add urad dal and chana dal to give the chutney a body.
Dry Red chilies: adds spice. For a less spicy chutney and a bright red color, you can mix regular red chilies and Kashmiri red chilies.
Tamarind: gives the essential tanginess to the chutney.
Jaggery: adds sweetness and balances the strong flavor of ginger, spiciness from the chilies, and tanginess from the tamarind.
Tempering
Oil, urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin, and curry leaves.
How to make Ginger Chutney
Pre-prep
Wash, peel, and roughly chop the ginger.
Soak 1/4 cup of tamarind in 1/4 cup of warm water for 10-15 minutes. Then squeeze out the pulp and discard the seeds and fiber.
1. Heat 1 tbsp in a pan over low flame. When the oil is warm, add 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds and 1/2 tbsp urad dal, and 1/2 tbsp chana dal. Saute until the lentils turn a light golden color.
Do not saute until the lentils turn a golden brown color. They will turn black when sauteed with the rest of the ingredients. If accidentally they turn golden brown, remove them onto a plate and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
2. Add 1 tbsp coriander seeds and saute for a few seconds.
3. Add 1/4 cup of ginger roughly chopped. Saute for a minute.
4. Add 10-15 dry red chilies and saute until they start to change color and become crisp.
Do not let the dry red chilies turn black.
5. Add 1/4 cup of jaggery and give a good mix.
6. Add the tamarind pulp and mix well.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool completely.
9. Transfer it to a mixer jar and grind it to a smooth paste by adding water as needed.
Taste test and add salt if needed.
10. Take this chutney out into a bowl.
Tempering
Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan over medium flame. When hot, add 1/2 tsp urad dal and saute till they change to light golden color. Next, add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp cumin and let them crackle. Add curry leaves and saute until they turn crisp. Turn off the flame and pour this tempering over the prepared chutney. Mix it very well.
Ginger chutney is ready. Serve it with breakfast items.
Serving Suggestions
This allam chutney is the perfect match for pesarattu. But, it goes well with other South Indian breakfast tiffins- idli, dosa, gunta ponganalu, uttapam, medu vada, set dosa, and even dibba roti.
Storage Suggestions
You can store the chutney for about 2-3 days at room temperature. Leftover chutney can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Variations
This ginger chutney can be easily adapted to many interesting and delicious flavors by adding just an ingredient or two.
1. In addition to ginger, you can saute onions and or tomatoes and grind them together.
2. Add curry leaves and asafoetida in the initial tempering before adding ginger.
3. Can also add 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds and or 2-3 cloves of raw garlic along with other grinding ingredients.
4. Instead of dried red chilies you can use green chilies as per your spice tolerance.
More Chutney recipes
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Recipe Card
Hotel style Ginger Chutney Recipe | Allam Chutney for Breakfast
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Ginger
- 1/4 cup Tamarind (soak in warm water)
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
- 1/2 tbsp Urad dal
- 1/2 tbsp Chana dal
- 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
- 10-15 numbers Dry Red chilies (adjust as per your taste)
- 1/4 cup Jaggery
- Salt to taste
Tempering
- 1 tsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp Urad dal
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 6-8 numbers Curry leaves
Instructions
Pre-prep
- Wash, peel, and roughly chop the ginger.
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Then squeeze out the pulp and discard the seeds and fiber.
Make the Ginger Chutney
- Heat oil in a pan over a low flame. When the oil is warm, add fenugreek seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. Saute until the lentils turn a light golden color.
- Add coriander seeds and saute for a few seconds.
- Add chopped ginger. Saute for a minute.
- Add dry red chilies and saute until they start to change color and become crisp.
- Add jaggery and give a good mix.
- Add the tamarind pulp and mix well.
- Add salt to taste and mix.
- Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool completely.
- Transfer it to a mixer jar and grind it to a smooth paste by adding water as needed.
- Take this chutney out into a bowl.
Tempering
- Heat oil in a small pan over medium flame.
- When hot, add urad dal and saute till they change to light golden color. Next, add mustard seeds and cumin and let them crackle.
- Add curry leaves and saute until they turn crisp. Turn off the flame and pour this tempering over the prepared chutney. Mix it very well.
- Ginger chutney is ready. Serve it with breakfast items.
Notes
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