Dried fig, bitter gourd, red onion: A new book brings chutney recipes with unique ingredients

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Chutney has travelled beyond the subcontinent in memory and migration. As trade routes, indenture and empire carried people and ingredients across oceans, chutneys travelled with them. In the Caribbean it became satini; in Southeast Asia, a cousin to sambal; in Britain, it evolved into sweet-sour flavours like Major Grey’s Chutney and Colonel Skinner’s Chutney and in South Africa, Mrs HS Ball’s Chutney remains a supermarket emblem of Indian migration. This chapter explores chutneys that embraced new landscapes and ingredients. Contemporary kitchens continue this dialogue by pairing matcha with coriander, romesco with red chilli, hummus with amla. These experiments remind us that chutney is migratory and gloriously hybrid. A condiment, yes. But also, a traveller.

Chocolate and anjeer chutney

You know those days when a mad idea seizes you? This chutney is the result of one of my ‘let-it-all-loose’ moments in the kitchen. It brings together luscious figs, dark chocolate and a splash of Cognac, with green chilli slipping in a sly kick. The result is a sweet– spicy preserve that pairs beautifully with cheese or warm sourdough. Inspired by both French and Indian culinary traditions, this chutney is a bold marriage of decadence and heat, an instant conversation starter on any table or cheeseboard.

Ingredients