Onion Chutney

Onion Chutney also is known as vengaya chutney in the Tamil language, with spicy-sweet-tangy taste and is perfect to eat with South Indian recipes like Idli, Dosa or Pesarattu! It is a quick, delicious, easy, vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free recipe!

Jump to:

• Why I love this chutney?
• Ingredients required –
• How to make Onion chutney for dosa and idli? Step by step process.
• Notes and pro-tips – 
• Onion Chutney
• Video

This onion chutney is so versatile. You can smear it on just about anything – like on toast, in a wrap or in a burger. It is just so delicious!

Chutney recipes have always been an excellent accompaniment for Indian meals. Be it chaat, fritters, or samosas! It helps to enhance the taste of the food.

Why I love this chutney?

• Its complete flavor package! it is spicy, sweet, tangy and so flavorful.
• Goes well with idli, dosa, pesarattu, appam and even in sandwiches and wraps.
• Freezes so well.
• Gets ready is in under 15 minutes.

Ingredients required –

This Onion Chutney is prepared with – Onion (Of course!), tomato, cashews, tamarind, red dried chilies, jaggery, and curry leaves.

And for tempering, we will need mustard seeds, small red chilis, hing, curry leaves, and urad dal.

How to make Onion chutney for dosa and idli? Step by step process.

For chutney –

Heat oil in a pan. Add dried red chilies, curry leaves and hing. Saute for a few seconds.

Now add Onions, tomatoes, and salt. Saute onions well until they lose the raw flavor and just begin to caramelize or turn golden.

Now add cashew, tamarind, and jaggery. Let them cook for about a minute or two.

Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool down.

Now take this mixture in a blender jar, add some water and blend them into a fine chutney. Keep it aside.

Tempering

Heat oil a pan. Add urad dal and fry them until browned.

Now add all the remaining tempering ingredients and let them crackle.

Switch off the flame.

Pour this tempering over onion chutney. Mix well

Onion chutney is ready. Enjoy onion chutney with dosa!

Notes and pro-tips – 

The key to getting the best and tasty chutney is to fry the onions well until they lose the raw flavor and just begin to caramelize or turn golden.

Cashew Substitute – Cashew gives texture and taste to the chutney. But if you don’t have cashew or don’t want to use them, you can use peanut, daliya dal or soaked chana dal too to make it nut-free.

Onions – You can use any type of onions. Actually it is best when made with shallots but peeling the shallots does take time so I prefer to use regular onions.

Tomato – Tomato gives smooth texture to the chutney. You can skip the tomato if you want.

Variations – You can add some mint leaves, coriander leaves, garlic and/or ginger too.

Sweetness –  Adding jaggery to this chutney is completely optional.

Color – The color of this chutney really depends on the type of red chilies you use. I have used Kashmiri red dried chilies. Kashmiri chilis are very mild in heat but give a deep red color.

Store – You can store this chutney up to a week in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer in an airtight container. Or you can make ice cubes just like I have shown in my green chutney post and store it in the freezer.

Looking for more chutney recipes?

Green Mango chutney

Mint coriander chutney

Coconut chutney

Peanut chutney

Spicy tomato chutney

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Warm regards,

Dhwani.