Tomato chutney with garlic and onion is a spicy, tangy, flavorful tomato chutney with garlic and onion. It's like a thick, relish-like sauce that elevates any meal with which you have it. Pairs perfectly with South Indian breakfasts like Aloo Masala Dosa, Idli, or Uttapam, and even works wonderfully with bread or roti. Just one dunk into this vibrant chutney is enough to wake up your taste buds and add a punch of flavor to your plate.
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Why will you love this dish?
- Bold, Balanced Flavors: The perfect blend of tangy tomatoes, pungent garlic, and sweet onions can not only create the best creamy tomato soup but can also create a rich, savory chutney that's both comforting and delicious.
- Versatile Pairing: Whether served with dosa, idli, uttapam, or spread over toast and rotis, this chutney complements a wide variety of dishes, just like the chutney powder mixed with ghee.
- Quick & Easy: Simple ingredients, minimal prep, and a short cooking time, like making quick bread pizza, banana nut muffins, and fresh corn grilled, make it ideal for busy mornings or last-minute meals.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Stores well in the fridge for several days, making it a great option for meal prepping or adding flavor throughout the week.
- Naturally Vegan & Gluten-Free: It's a wholesome, plant-based option that fits many dietary preferences without compromising on taste.
Ingredients needed
As the name suggests, this flavorsome relish is made with tomatoes, onion, garlic, and spices. They are all fried in oil and ground together to a fine paste.
- Ripe tomatoes, the homegrown ones, are the best
- Onions, shallots, and garlic
- Dried Red chilies
- Spices like turmeric and red chili powder
- Curry leaves
- Sugar and canned tomato paste (optional)
- Vegetable oil for tempering
How to make Tomato Chutney with Garlic?
Start by washing the tomatoes thoroughly and patting them dry. Chop them into small chunks for even cooking. In a pan, heat some oil and splutter mustard seeds along with dried red chilies and urad dal (optional). Add garlic and curry leaves.
- Step 1: Heat some oil and splutter mustard seeds along with dried red chilies and urad dal (optional)
- Step 2:Add garlic and sautee
Next, add shallots and onions, and sauté until they soften. Add spices, red chili powder, and turmeric.
- Step 3: Add shallots and onions.
- Step 4: Add red chili powder and turmeric.
Then add the chopped tomatoes to the pan. Season with salt and a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity. If you like a deeper color and rich flavor, you can also add a small spoonful of canned tomato paste.
Cook the mixture well, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and most of the moisture has evaporated. Let it cool slightly, then transfer to a mixer jar and blend into a smooth paste.
- Step 5: Add chopped tomatoes and sautee again.
- Step 6: Cook until most of the moisture has evaporated, cool, and blend the contents.
Once blended, pour the chutney into a clean bowl or container. Adjust the consistency by adding a little water if needed.
You can prepare a quick tempering by heating oil in a small pan, spluttering mustard seeds, and adding curry leaves and dried red chilies. Pour this tadka over the chutney before serving. Enjoy it warm or at room temperature with dosa, idli, uttapam, or even toast.
Useful Tips
- Use homegrown fresh tomatoes like Cherry, Roma, Beefsteak, and the like, if available and handy, as that gives this relish a very unique and appetizing taste. You can also make them with store-bought organic tomatoes to get a similar taste.
- This chutney can also be made in advance and preserved in the refrigerator for about a week or more.
- Ensure to fry the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in oil very well so that the raw taste disappears. It is preferable to fry all the ingredients until they leave oil on the sides of the pan.
- If you are using very small tomatoes, you can skip chopping them and fry them as is, so you can save some time. The bigger tomatoes, of course, will need to be chopped into small pieces so they are fried well.
- Adding a teaspoon of sugar is optional. The addition of sugar, however, enhances the taste of this dish, like in sabudana khichdi, especially if the tomatoes are sour and even otherwise.
- Tomato paste addition is optional as well, and you can skip it if you do not like using canned paste. I normally add the paste to get a nice bright color and an appealing look.
- You can also choose to skip the tempering step in the end, as the ingredients for the chutney are already fried in oil.
Related Recipes
If you tried this Tomato Chutney with Garlic Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below. I love hearing from you!
Tomato chutney with garlic
Ingredients
- 5 medium sized tomatoes If using cherry tomatoes, use equivalent of that
- 4 large garlic pods chopped
- ½ medium sized onion finely chopped
- 4-5 shallots halved
- 1 tbsp tomato paste canned
- 2 red chillies dried
- 4 tsp Chilly powder Kashnmiri
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
For Tempering
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 red chillies dried
- ¼ tsp black gram urad dal (split )
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a thick bottomed pan, heat oil .Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add curry leaves and dried red chillies.
- Add garlic and sautee for a while.
- Add onions and shallots and fry them for about 5 minutes.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and sugar.Sautee fro 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes , sautee.Cook covered for about 10 minutes .
- After a while , the water will evaporate .Keep cooking till it leaves oil from the sides.
- Add in the tomato paste and mix it well.
- Cool the mixture and grind it to a fine paste.
For tempering (optional)
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add dried red chillies, split black gram, and curry leaves.
- Add this to the ground paste.
- Tomato chutney is ready to be served.
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
I have had sweet version of tomato churtney and have had something which is more like roasted tomato chutney with onion and mustard oil and green chilies. Love this recipe will also try this.
I am sure the sweet version with roasted tomatoes would taste awesome . Hope you like this variation as well. Thank you for the comments and stopping by!
I mostly make this onion tomato chutney. The only difference is the tomato paste where I use just tomatoes. Looks lip-smacking.
We also grow a lot of tomatoes and I usually use them to make tomato passata/puree or I dry them. I agree anything made with homegrown tomatoes tastes wonderful. I've never made tomato chutney but I'd love to try it!
The color of this chutney is amazing and I love all the spices you added. This looks perfect for dipping a hearty bread into.