Simple Red Onion Chutney

Ingredients

• 250 g red onion (Gemüsezwiebeln), thinly sliced and rinsed

• 1 tbsp oil for onion Sauté

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp salt (or about 4g)

  
  

• 1 tbsp oil for roasting spices

• ½ tsp brown mustard seeds

• 1 tsp urad dal (optional)

• ½ tsp chilli flakes

• ½ tsp sesame seeds

• 1 tsp raw cane sugar

• 1 tsp tamarind paste

• A few fresh curry leaves

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

Method

1. Sauté the onion

   Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the sliced and rinsed red onion, garlic powder, and salt. Sauté until the onion becomes translucent and fragrant.

2. Remove the onion from the pan and set it aside. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the same pan. Add the brown mustard seeds, chilli flakes, sesame seeds, brown sugar, tamarind paste, curry leaves, and tomato paste.

3. Let the spices sizzle

   Allow everything to sizzle gently for a short while, stirring so that the spices become fragrant and the tomato paste is lightly cooked.

4. Chop the onion

   Finely chop the sautéed onion. Add it back to the pan and mix thoroughly with the spiced tempering.

5. Finish the chutney

   Continue cooking for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is well coated and the chutney becomes thick and richly flavoured.

Serve warm or allow it to cool before serving. It is particularly good as a condiment with curries, rice dishes, samosas, or other savoury snacks.

Why I chop the onion by hand

For this chutney, I prefer not to blend the onion.

Blending (raw)onion can sometimes make the chutney unexpectedly bitter because the onion cells are broken down very intensely. I therefore rinse the sliced onion first, sauté it until translucent and fragrant, and only then finely chop it with a knife.

This simple method has worked reliably for me. It also gives the chutney a pleasant texture, rather than turning it into a completely smooth paste.

How to fix bitter chutney?

Even if the chutney turns out slightly bitter, the bitterness can be balanced with acidity from ingredients such as tomato, lemon, or tamarind, together with a little sugar.