Coriander chutney (also known as Dhania chutney) is a staple in Indian cuisine. Gluten-free and vegan, this quick and easy cilantro chutney pairs perfectly as a dipping sauce with Indian Snacks or any snack like veg sandwiches, fritters, patties, burgers, fries.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This easy, spicy and delicious cilantro chutney recipe might just become a staple food in your home! The perfect sauce to have on hand for toasts, breads, or finger foods, I love to serve this coriander chutney whenever I’m looking for a quick snack or appetizer.
You do not need coconut, peanuts, yogurt or any difficult to get ingredients to make this recipe. You do not even need mint leaves.
Roasted ground cumin is added to the chutney. But if you do not have ground cumin or roasted cumin powder, worry not. Simply omit it or if you do have cumin seeds, roast them in a skillet until fragrant and then powder them in a spice-grinder.
By the way, if you do not have time to make Coconut chutney for Idli, Dosa or Medu Vada, then you can make this coriander chutney instead! It goes well with many South Indian snacks, and it’s great to go on a sandwich or as a dip for dosa or for idli, as well.
Coriander chutney is also called as Dhania chutney in Hindi where the word “dhania” means coriander and “hara dhania” specifically means coriander leaves.
Prepping Coriander Leaves
While prepping coriander, do include the tender stems with the leaves as they are loaded with tons of flavor. If the stems are tough or woody, discard them.
Soak the leaves with the tender stems thoroughly in bowl of clean water with some vinegar and a bit baking soda for 2 to 3 minutes to get rid of any pesticide residue. Rinse them again in fresh water a few times. Drain all the water.
Two Ways to Store Cilantro
- For easier work, I soak the leaves in water mixed with vinegar, baking soda and later rinse them again. I let all the water get drained and then place them on a large rack (placed below a tray for any extra water to drip through) and let them dry naturally for a few hours. Use a salad spinner if you have one.
When they look fresh but not wilted, I store them between paper towels in a box in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator. These stay good for about a week. - An easy method which I used to earlier implement was to store the coriander leaves in a glass or bottle (with a large rim) filled with some water. Trim and remove the roots before you place these leaves in the glass.
The stems and leaves should be outside the glass. The base part of the stem should be in water. Gather the leaves and cover with a plastic bag or a ziplock bag. Seal loosely with a rubber band on the rim. Keep in the fridge and change the water every day. Cilantro stored this way stays good for a week.
How to Make Coriander Chutney
Add Ingredients to a Blender
1. First, in a blender or chutney grinder, combine 1 cup of chopped fresh coriander leaves (50 grams) ,1 teaspoon chopped ginger and 2 teaspoons chopped green chili.
Note that 2 teaspoons makes for a spicy green chutney. If you or any of your family member cannot tolerate spicy food, add ½ to 1 teaspoon of chopped green chillies.
Add Seasonings
2. Next add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of roasted cumin powder or ground cumin, 2 to 3 pinches of black salt (optional) and table salt or pink salt or sea salt as needed.
At this point you can add ¼ teaspoon Chaat masala if you have it.
Blend Coriander Chutney
3. Then, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water, blend or grind all the ingredients until smooth. Check the seasoning and add more salt or lemon juice as needed.
Serve and Enjoy
4. Finally, serve your delicious coriander chutney with snacks like sandwiches, patties, fritter, or Indian snacks like Bhel Puri, Ragda Patties, Sev Puri, Samosa, Kachori, Dhokla, Dabeli and Aloo Tikki Burger.
For a Veg Sandwich or grilled Cheese Sandwich you can spread it on the bread as well as enjoy as a dipping sauce. I also add it as a topping or spread on the various veggies wraps I make.
Cilantro chutney also tastes awesome with fried snacks like Falafel, Potato Wedges, Spring Rolls, French Fries or Cheese Balls.
Storage and Leftovers
Whether you have leftovers from a snack or made a batch of coriander chutney for later, you’ll be able to enjoy this sauce for days to come. Store your coriander chutney leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Expert Tips
- Serve with chaat snacks: Coriander chutney is also used to top various chaat snacks, which have a sweet, tangy, spicy taste with various textures in the food. A personal favorite, chaat snacks are an absolutely amazing category of Indian snacks, like Pani Puri and Chana Chaat.
- Watch the consistency: It’s important that the coriander chutney flavors are preserved. Be careful not to thin out your chutney too much, as the flavors will get diluted. If you need to thicken your cilantro chutney, add some almond meal or almond flour or ground roasted peanut powder.
- Personalize the flavor: This dhania chutney recipe is very easy to customize. Increase the spiciness by adding more green chilies, or add a bit of freshness by using half of mint and cilantro. You can also try substituting dry mango powder with lemon juice for a faint sourness. There are so many flavor combinations to try!
- Scaling: You could easily scale the recipe and make a big batch of dhania chutney for parties or get-togethers.
FAQs
Coriander chutney is great to make ahead or meal prep. If you want your chutney to last longer than a week, it can be frozen for up to a month. Try freezing your chutney in small batches using an ice tray to make for easy portions.
Cilantro chutney is served as a side with various Indian snacks to dip and eat – like Onion Pakoda, Samosa, and Sandwiches.
Yes – you can add a little honey or sugar to add a bit of sweetness or tone down the level of bitterness in your chutney.
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Coriander Chutney (Cilantro Chutney)
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped coriander leaves (cilantro), tightly packed – 50 grams
- 2 teaspoons chopped green chillies or 2 to 3 green chillies or as needed
- 1 chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder or ground cumin – optional
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice or as required
- 2 to 3 pinches black salt – optional
- salt as required – pink salt, table salt or sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon chaat masala – optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a blender or chutney grinder, add the chopped coriander leaves, chopped ginger and green chillies.
- Note that 2 teaspoons makes for a spicy green chutney. If you or any of your family member cannot tolerate spicy food, add ½ to 1 teaspoon of chopped green chillies.
- Add lemon juice, roasted cumin powder or ground cumin, black salt and pink salt, table salt or sea salt as required. You can add chaat masala at this step if you have it.
- Add water and blend or grind all the ingredients until smooth. Taste the chutney and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
- Store the cilantro chutney in a covered bowl or container in the refrigerator.
- Use the chutney whenever required. It goes well with variety of Indian snacks like pakoras, sandwiches, samosa, burger, idli, dosa, dhokla, dabeli, bhel puri, sev puri and other chaat recipes.
Serving suggestions
- Serve the delicious coriander chutney with snacks like sandwiches, patties, fritter, or Indian snacks like Bhel Puri, Ragda Patties, Sev Puri, Samosa, Kachori, Dhokla, Dabeli and Aloo Tikki Burger.
- For a Veg Sandwich or grilled Cheese Sandwich or any sandwich you can spread it on the bread as well as enjoy as a dipping sauce. I also add it as a topping on the wraps I make.
- Cilantro chutney also tastes awesome with fried snacks like Falafel, Potato Wedges, Spring Rolls, French Fries or Cheese Balls.
Storage and leftovers
- Whether you have leftovers from a snack or made a batch of coriander chutney for later, you’ll be able to enjoy this sauce for days to come.
- Store your coriander chutney leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- If you want your cilantro chutney to last longer than a week, it can be frozen for up to a month. Try freezing your chutney in small batches using an ice tray to make for easy portions.
Notes
- Serve with chaat snacks: Coriander chutney is used to top various Indian Chaat Snacks, which have a sweet, tangy, spicy taste with various textures in the food. A personal favorite, chaat snacks are an absolutely amazing category of Indian snacks.
- Watch the consistency: It is important that the coriander chutney flavors are preserved. Be careful not to thin out your chutney too much, as the flavors will get diluted. If you need to thicken your chutney, add some almond meal or almond flour or ground roasted peanut powder.
- Personalize the flavor. This chutney recipe is very easy to customize. Increase the spiciness by adding more green chilies, or add a bit of freshness by using half of mint and cilantro. You can also try substituting dry mango powder with lemon juice for a faint sourness.
- Scaling: You could easily scale the recipe and make a big batch of dhania chutney for your party menu.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This coriander chutney recipe post from the archives (Feb 2013) has been republished and updated on 6 April 2021.
wow Dassana, thank you so much for the tip on how to thicken the chutney, didn’t know adding almond meal would save it, but it did !!! so, guys, in case you make your chutney too thin , add some almond meal 😉 and voila, magic happens
Welcome and glad to know the tip was helpful.
Can you freeze it?
Yes.
You know I learned cooking because of you. I am a student in Melbourne and after leaving home(Pune) I didn’t even know how to cook anything. Then I started using your recipes to make easy sabzis. Thank you so much for all the recipes.
Love from Melbourne (Australia)
thank you revati. i am so glad that the recipes are helping you. home cooked food is the best especially when you live away from your country. thanks again and wish you all the best.
wow tasty
easy to make
thankyou supii 🙂
thanks for this recipe. It’s easy to make but will it taste good with semolina and vermicelli idli?
welcome bidisha. yes this chutney will taste good with rava idli or vermicelli idli.
Very nice recipe THANKS
thankyou vaishnu.
Your recipes are really good, easy and help me to cook for my family. Thanks
God bless
thankyou so much rashi 🙂
This is a great recipe. Have you tried freezing it? It would be good to make a big batch and then freeze it in small portions.
thanks. coriander does not freeze well. the taste changes a lot after you freeze it. so i would not suggest to freeze this chutney.
Can we use table salt instead of the salts u mentioned here??
teena, yes you can use.
Excellent recipe. Just made it without changing anything! Came out perfect. Thank you!
welcome shelly. glad to know this.
Out of interest what can used in place of Lemon Juice?
nate, you can use dry mango powder or dry pomegranate seeds.
Thanks
Am interested in making the Coriander Chutney though have recently developed an allergy to citrus and originally considering adding Cider Vinegar or a bit of water to the mixture.
welcome nate. skip adding citrus. no need to add any vinegar. the citrus is added to preserve the green color of the chutney. its not essential to add it. if you can get dry mango power or dry pomegranate powder then just to get sour hints, you can add of them. or otherwise make the chutney plain without the citrus.
Thank you.
welcome kohila
Nice recipe! But will it taste good with bread?
Yes. It does taste good with bread.
This is a really nice recipe, I added peanuts and tamarind pulp. Tasted great.
thanks sheetal for sharing positive feedback and your variation.
Very nice chutney and easy to make…:)
thanks bhushan
cool recipe and easy to make
thanks sneha
Before I travelled to India in 2011, I would make this with olive oil, salt, pepper, chillis and coriander and then pan fry with some pasta – coriander heypresto pesto!
For some reason i can’t give it five stars but i would if i could!
thanks rachel. some times the rating software acts weirdly on mobile phones.
This chutney is awesome.
thanks pankaj
Thanks dassana.simplest chutney ever
welcome nilav
Hi,dassana thanks for sharing easy and quick chutney
welcome nikky
It’s too good..
its help me on my cooking skill
I just have a question. You only have to stir the ingredients in water and it comes out that smooth? seems that would be difficult with the chilies i guess you have to chop the heck out of them, lol.
hi liz. the ingredients are not stirred. they are blended in a blender or a chutney grinder till smooth. i think i have to mention the word blender in the recipe.
Thanks for this recipe! I can’t wait to make it!
thanks karen
Simple & easy recipe, thanks for sharing
welcome sandhya.
Simple and nice one to have with chaats
What a gorgeous color of coriander chutney! My friend makes awesome samosas. I want to dip her samosas in your chutney!! I’m surprised it’s easier to make this. I need to keep this recipe handy. Thanks Dassana!
Dassana,
even i hope to see samosa receipe soon…
though i have been kept waiting for gatta receipe 🙁 till now
….by hit and trial i am successful in making soft gattas since last 2-3 times
yup renuka…. coming soon 🙂
i know about the gatta recipe. just not made it. i have a huge collection of recipes in the drafts. indian as well as world cuisine. but will for sure make the gatta recipe soon. good to know you making soft gattas now.
kala namak adds so much flavor to this chutney
Dassana, even though the ingredients are simple, this chutney has so many different flavours when made with different hands!
Loved the snapshots too.
Hi Dassana, This looks great -love the colours very vibrant!
I love to store chutney’s at home. My most common and fav ones are mint, cilantro and tamarind chutney. They go so well with chaat and other Indian snacks. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Your chutney looks so good and has got that lovely green color perfectly.
looks great dassana! did you make the samosa too? hope you’ll post recipe soon
thanks nags. these are homemade samosas. i make samosa sometimes at home. will post in the recipe in future.