Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney.
Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.
Every food has a story somewhere. Whenever I speak to my good friend Sunitha, I ask what did you make today? Groundnut Chutney – Peanut chutney would feature in the answer very regularly. She has told me many times that her mother would make tubs of this Groundnut Chutney for their big family when she was young and how much ever she would make, the Groundnut Chutney would be polished off. She doesn’t know of a single time when there was a leftover. She would make this Groundnut Chutney almost everyday. She grew up eating this Groundnut Chutney. After hearing such a story, I wanted to make it too. Groundnut Chutney is easy to make, healthy and can feed a crowd. No problem. After hearing that story, I was eager to try it out. Here is the Groundnut Chutney recipe that I adapted from Sunitha. Its a very nice chutney that goes well with Idli, Dosa and the other south indian breakfast varieties. This Groundnut Chutney recipe has very few ingredients and the peanuts shine. This has now become a regular fare with my family and my little one cant get enough of it. Its really nutty and tasty and very creamy.
Here is how I do Groundnut Chutney.
We need to first roast the peanuts. Roasting peanuts makes them crisp and brings out the flavor by activating their essential oils. You need to roast the peanuts on a very low flame. Heat a pan with a cup and a half of peanuts and dry roast them until the skin is dark and the aroma is nutty. It will take a good 10 minutes. Roasting on a low flame is important else the nuts might burn on the outside. So take it low and slow. Good things take time. Once roasted, just smash the peanuts with a cup so its easier to de-skin. You can omit this step if you want to keep the skin on for your chutney. But I like it without the skins.
Just blow air on the peanuts. Do this at an open space outside or you will end up with peanut skin all over your kitchen. Just keep tossing and blowing the peanuts until majority of the peanut skins have been blown away. Set this aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves of garlic. I added more as my garlic cloves were unbelievably small. Add in the dried red chillies and onions, saute on medium flame for 3-4 minutes until soft. No need to brown. Add in the salt, tamarind and the jaggery. There is an untold rule. Wherever tamarind goes, jaggery also goes. That little addition of jaggery rounds out the flavor and makes it very delicious. Briefly saute for a few seconds and remove off heat. Grind this mixture along with the peanuts to a smooth paste. Add upto 1 cup of water while grinding.
You can serve as is or do a simple tadka/tempering the following way.
Heat oil in a pan and add couple of dried red chillies and a sprig of curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp (usually 30-40 seconds in medium flame), remove off heat and add it to the Groundnut Chutney.
Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney
Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
For the Chutney
- 1 1/2 cup peanuts
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 2 dried Red chillies
- 2 medium sized Onions, chopped
- 1/2 lime size tamarind
- 1/2 lime size jaggery
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Tempering
- 2 teaspoon Oil
- 2 dried Red Chilli
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat a pan with a cup and a half of peanuts and dry roast them until the skin is dark and the aroma is nutty. It will take a good 10 minutes.
- Just blow air on the peanuts. Do this at an open space outside or you will end up with peanut skin all over your kitchen. Just keep tossing and blowing the peanuts until majority of the peanut skins have been blown away. Set this aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves of garlic. I added more as my garlic cloves were unbelievably small. Add in the dried red chillies and onions, saute on medium flame for 3-4 minutes until soft. No need to brown. Add in the salt, tamarind and the jaggery. There is an untold rule. Wherever tamarind goes, jaggery also goes. That little addition of jaggery rounds out the flavor and makes it very delicious. Briefly saute for a few seconds and remove off heat. Grind this mixture along with the peanuts to a smooth paste. Add upto 1 cup of water while grinding.
- You can serve as is or do a simple tadka/tempering the following way.
- Heat oil in a pan and add couple of dried red chillies and a sprig of curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp (usually 30-40 seconds in medium flame), remove off heat and add it to the chutney.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Chutney
- Cuisine: South Indian
The best peanut chutney! I usually detest anything with peanuts. But this is nostalgia for me. Growing up in Chennai it was all punjabi food at home as we’re punjabis so only time I would get to eat authentic south Indian dishes are from the neighbors when they send or from classmates or restaurants. I used to crave this badly. So when I made it I went crazy. I followed the recipe exactly as mentioned except I didnt have jaggery so I used dark brown sugar. The tamarind gives a fantastic subtle tangy flavor. My picky 2yr old gobbled it with idli. Dont laugh but I finished off the rest of the chutney in the bowl with a spoon alone and then licked the remainder of the bowl clean with my finger. Just too too good!! Thank you so much akka!
Also I have tried a ton of your recipes. Comes out fantastic! Thank you v v much for this. I follow you on IG too. Dont stop sharing pls lol. HAPPY NEW YR!
Thank you so much Sara. This makes my day 🙂
Hi Suguna,
Thank you for posting this – looking forward to trying it. I have tried your idli batter recipe with success and want to try this chutney with it.
I wanted to ask how you store the leftover chutney. If kept in an airtight container in the fridge, can the required amount be warmed up in the microwave?
Thanks for your help!
This chutney needs to be ground fresh. You can store it but the taste changes when heated.
very simple and attractive representation shows your ability and experience in food making
Hi
Thank you. I am peanut craze. It was lovely.
I make peanut chutney once a week. This is one of the best receipes i came across. Thanks for sharing. BTW, you said two medium onions. Can you post a picture of the onions for comparison ? The onions in Usa are much bigger than the ones we get in india. Also we get different kinds. I am curious to see which is best for this receipe.
This chutney was very different from what I make.i tried it and it tastes awesome. Thankyou so much👌
Thank you!
Made it and fell in love with peanuts again. It tasted like heaven with dosa
Thank you so much!
Verrrryyyy tasty tried my favorite peanut chutney awesome thanks kannamma
Thanks you Sumathi!
Hello Kannamma..Tried this chutney and it was an instant favorite for my 2 yr old kid.. He was literally licking his fingers.. :p
Can you please post recipe of same peanut chutney with coconut instead of onions… Thank you.
Thanks so much Madhumathi. Really glad that your kid loved it. So nice to know.
I tried this chutney. Is was really good. My husband liked it very much thanks for the recipe
Thank you so much. Glad you liked the recipe. Happy cooking.
I tried this chutney?it’s really too good?. Got good comments ? from family members. ???
Thank you. Glad you liked the recipe. Happy cooking!
Hi Suguna.. after making lipsmacking coconut chutney (following your recipe) I was so excited in trying this yesterday for the same group of friends for super soft idlys (also from your post)!! I made Annaporna hotel sambar (which tasted out of the world) with this chutney (also because I ran out of pottukadalais)…ah one of our friends made me share your link right away whilst eating!! loads of compliments for this chutney.. thank you so much!!
after living in college hostel for 4 years, I learnt to avoid peanut chutneys but now I am totally in love with it!!
Thats so nice Saranya! I love this chutney too!
Hi kannamma sis,
Can we roast d peanuts without skin ??!.if yes how we long to roast ??!
Thanks
Sure, you can. Just roast until brown spots appear here and there.
Yes but it would be difficult to remove the skin when peanuts are raw and easily deskinned when it is roasted.
Awesome recipe.
Thank you Girijadevi. Glad you liked the Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney.
Hi,
Amazing recipe.. could you recommend how to preserve these type of chutney for like a month or so.. ?
Please suggest me some preservation methods.
Thanks!!!
Janani
You can freeze them right after cooking in zip tote bags but the taste wont be the same once you thaw.
can u tell me some receipes using bracoli
Awesome recipe.. I like to share a similar groundnut chutney, with totally 7 items..
one cup of roasted peanuts + 3 cloves garlic + 3 red chillies + 1/4 tsp jeera+ 1 tsp Jaggery + 1 cup fresh coriander leaves + salt
This is also equally good and can make a try.. 🙂
Thanks a lot for this recipe. Its exactly what I was looking for and trying so hard to remember and couldn’t. Off now to do the needful.
I am new to cooking, so pardon me if the question is a dumb one:
What type of tamarind are we talking about here?? Like those green ones or the red ones?? Tender or ripe??
I am a northie, one more reason why i am not able to understand this tamarind thing.
Hi Siddhartha, Nope. No question is a dumb one. I am happy you asked. We use this one in the link predominantly in south indian cooking.
These are not fresh ones. They have been removed from the outer shell/skin and cleaned and then packed. They look brown with white specks all over it.
Hope this helps.
http://towness.co.in/xcart44/product.php?productid=40063
good cook thank u!!!!!
plz mention cups measurement so that it is useful for viewers.thank you
Nandhini, Cup Measurements are clearly given in the recipe. Just scroll down till the bottom and you can view the full recipe card.
Peanut Chutney. Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.