Onion tomato chutney recipe is a traditional south Indian condiment or chutney for Idli, dosa, upma. It is made of onions and tomatoes along with red chillies and chana dal.
It is delicious, flavorful, moderately spicy and slightly tangy. Vegan and gluten free.
Tomato chutney is one of the very popular chutney recipes from south Indian cuisine just like coconut chutney, peanut chutney, coriander chutney pudina chutney.
There are many ways to make tomato chutney recipe and this tomato onion chutney is one the easy and tasty recipe.
This is slightly tangy, mildly sweet from the onions with enough heat from the chillies. This is a wonderful side dish for idli or dosa and most of south Indian breakfasts and snacks. If you are not very fond of the nutty flavor of coconut chutney, this tomato chutney is your best bet.
You will find loads of tomato chutney recipes around the web as well as many cookbooks. Most of the south Indian homes have their signature recipe and here I am sharing my method.
About South Indian Tomato Chutney
Tomato chutney is a classic chutney recipe from south Indian states like Tamil nadu, Andra, Karnataka. It is made in many ways. Often ingredients like coconut, peanut and herbs like coriander are added for flavor and to give some volume to the chutney.
Here I am sharing a very tasty one with onions. I am big fan of this chutney and I simply love this with all breakfast dishes.
It is a no frills, easy to make recipe that takes less than 15 minutes to make. It tastes so good when made with good ripe tomatoes.
You need very few ingredients to make onion tomato chutney. Apart from onion and tomato all you need are some chana dal, dry red chili, salt and a bit of tamarind.
We are also making a simple tadka of mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves in sesame oil to make the chutney more flavorful. Sesame oil also balances the heat from red chillies.
In some homes this chutney is made without any dal. But both my mom and myself always add some chana dal as it adds so much flavor, makes a thick smooth chutney and nutritious too.
Now this is just one variation of making chutneys with tomatoes. I have shared few more variations and I have linked them in the notes section, please do check if you like 🙂
Do try out this easy tomato onion chutney and enjoy. Apart from serving with breakfast you can use it many ways, see tips for ideas. This chutney is
very delicious and has wonderful flavor
Beginner friendly
Goes well with idli
easy to make
ready in 15 minutes
best combination for south Indian breakfasts and snacks
vegan and gluten free
How To Make Onion Tomato Chutney Recipe
Making Chutney
Rinse and wipe excess moisture from 3 large tomatoes and 1 large onion. Chop them roughly into large cubes.
Heat oil in a pan. I have used two tablespoons sesame oil for sautéing the ingredients and 2 teaspoons for tadka. Once the oil is moderately hot add 6 dry red chillies. Saute for few seconds. Next add 1 tablespoon chana dal. Saute till the dal turns golden.
Next add cubed onions.
Saute well till they turn a bit soft. No need to brown them. Next add the cubed tomatoes. Saute well and cook for 6-8 minutes in medium flame.
Saute and cook well until the tomatoes wilt and turn soft. Remove from flame. In the same pan saute a small bit of tamarind.
Let cool for few minutes and transfer the sautéed onion and tomato mixture a mixer jar. Add salt to taste.
Grind to a smooth paste. Add little water if needed but do not add more than 2-3 tablespoons.
Making Tadka For Tomato Onion Chutney
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small pan. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon urad dal or black gram and also add curry leaves. Fry till the dal turns golden.
Pour the prepared tadka to the ground chutney along with the oil.
Mix very well. Serve onion tomato chutney with breakfast like idli or dosa
Serving Suggestions
This onion tomato chutney is very flavorful, very mildly sweet and tangy with just enough heat from chillies.
It tastes wonderful with soft idli, rava idli, ragi idli, poha ildi. It also tastes good with crispy dosa, rava dosa, neer dosa, upma, set dosa.
This tomato chutney tastes wonderful with crispy poori, paratha and good for using as sandwich spread too.
You can also mix this with rice and ghee.
Variations With Tomato Chutney
As mentioned above you can make tomato chutney in so many ways. Here are few variations I have shared in the blog.
Garlic chutney with tomato suitable for travel
Expert Tips
Use ripe red tomatoes for best taste, flavor and color. I prefer to use desi tomatoes for chutney as they are slightly tangy. You can deseed the tomatoes if there are lots.
You can use red onions as I did here are white onion for milder flavor. For more flavor try to use shallots or pearl onions too.
Adding tamarind will increase the shelf life of the chutney a bit more. However do not add raw tamarind as it will change the flavor. Make sure to just saute it briefly in the pan you are sautéing onion and tomato.
The quantity of red chilies in this recipe can be adjusted as per taste. For a very mildly spiced chutney just use 2-3 red chillies and for very spicy chutney you can use up to 12.
If you like the flavor, you can saute 3-4 garlic cloves along with chana dal.
You can scale up the recipe easily.
You can also make onion tomato chutney without tadka. Just grind to a smooth paste and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does onion tomato chutney last?
This chutney when made with tamarind lasts for 2 days in refrigerator. If you have not added tamarind, use this within a day.
Is tomato onion chutney vegan?
Yes this chutney is vegan and gluten free too.
Can I make this with green chillies instead of red chilli?
Yes, just saute 2 green chillies in place of red chillies.
More Chutney Recipes
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Recipe Card
Onion Tomato Chutney Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes large, red ripe
- 1 onion large
- 6 red chilies dried
- 1 tablespoon chana dal
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Salt to taste
To temper
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 teaspoons oil
Instructions
- Rinse and wipe excess moisture from 3 large tomatoes and 1 large onion. Chop them roughly into large cubes.
- Heat oil in a pan. I have used two tablespoons sesame oil for sautéing the ingredients and 2 teaspoons for tadka. Once the oil is moderately hot add 6 dry red chillies. Saute for few seconds. Next add 1 tablespoon chana dal. Saute till the dal turns golden.
- Next add cubed onions.
- Saute well till they turn a bit soft. No need to brown them. Next add the cubed tomatoes. Saute well and cook for 6-8 minutes in medium flame.
- Saute and cook well until the tomatoes wilt and turn soft. Remove from flame. In the same pan saute a small bit of tamarind.
- Let cool for few minutes and transfer the sautéed onion and tomato mixture a mixer jar. Add salt to taste.
- Grind to a smooth paste. Add little water if needed but do not add more than 2-3 tablespoons.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small pan. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon urad dal or black gram and also add curry leaves. Fry till the dal turns golden.
- Pour the prepared tadka to the ground chutney along with the oil.
- Mix very well. Serve onion tomato chutney with breakfast like idli or dosa
Notes
- Instead of a big onion you can use 10-12 pearl onions
- This chutney will be excellent as a bread spread too.
- You can mix some leftover rice with chutney for instant tomato rice.
veena says
fav combo looks perfect
remya sean says
onion tomato chutney is a favorite. Looke yummy
Helene D'Souza says
Onion chutney looks so yummy.