Name: Mint Chutney
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 6 green chilies; 1 bunch mint leaves plucked from stem and washed; 1 bunch coriander leaves washed; 6 cloves garlic; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp vinegar; Juice of 2 lemons; 1/4 cup water

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Its fresh, its healthy, definitely low-cal, spicy and a brown man’s best friend! The green mint chutney is the South Asian equivalent of ketchup! Its a classic traditional Indian/Pakistani sauce that we desis tend to pair with everything savory we can get our hands on.

We loveeeeee pairing mint chutneys with samosas, chaat and pakoras and yummy pulaos. You could also try it with this chicken and veggie kebabs. Or if you were feeling adventurous, bring a little heat with this chutney to the Mac n cheese balls I made earlier this year. We even mix this chutney with yoghurt to get the iconic “green raita” that is an absolute MUST to have with Biryanis or paratha rolls.

As easy as it is to make this chutney, the only problem that people usually face with mint chutney, is its color change after a while. See the mint chutney tends to get oxidize and turn brownish in color. Although, it doesn’t mean that the chutney has spoilt or anything, but it doesn’t look that appealing as it does with its vibrant green color.

So today I thought I’d do a little tricks and tips post for this pet favourite dip, and obviously give you my own recipe of this minty goodness.

6 TIPS & WAYS TO MAKE YOUR MINT CHUTNEY LAST LONGER

Usual chutneys last for a week without losing their color, but if you take the following precautions, you can make your chutney last for 3 weeks without any color or durability issues!

USING INGREDIENTS AS PRESERVATIVES

Oil and vinegar are the main components that I like to add to my chutney to increase its shelf life. Olive oil is an excellent anti-oxidizing agent, so it prevents the color change of the chutney and prevent the ingredients from getting oxidized. The vinegar has an acidic quality which reduces the pH of the chutney and prevents bacteria from growing.

A NO BRAINER – FRESH LEAVES

Although this goes without saying, but make sure the mint leaves and coriander leaves you are adding are fresh. Sometimes we don’t notice the few rotten leaves among a pile of fresh ones. Not only do they reduce the durability of our sauce but may also make our chutney taste bitter. Also, remember to wash your mint and coriander leaves with ice cold water to preserve their freshness.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOUR ELEMENT

There are couple of different ways to add the sourness to the mint chutney:

Tamarind sauce
Lemon Juice
Vinegar

Although conventionally, tamarind sauce was the source of sourness in mint chutneys, it almost immediately turns the mint chutney brown. Lemon and vinegar on the other hand are both acidic and preservatives of sorts. So ideally a combination of both lemon and vinegar is best for that long lasting greenness of the chutney.

HOLD ON THE WATER

Keep the use of water to a minimum. No matter what recipe you follow, try to aim for a thicker chutney than a watery one. You can always dilute your chutney later while serving. The less water you use, the better it is for your chutney. Your chutney already has a bit of salt in it, which means it will turn slightly watery while refrigerated. Adding too much water while grinding the chutney makes it very diluted.

GLASS JARS OVER PLASTIC

Now glass jars don’t necessarily do anything active for your chutney, but they have shown to prevent odors from the fridge to seeping into food. And also, there is a chance your plastic container might get stained green if it isn’t of high quality.

FREEZER IS YOUR FRIEND

If you are going to make a big batch of mint chutney and you think it’s going to be a while when you will go through the whole batch, its always better to freeze half of it right away rather than refrigerate your chutney. I personally always divide my chutney batches into two and store half of it in the freezer and the other half in the fridge for use in the near future. If you are using the following mint chutney recipe, then you will get around 1 and 1/2 cup of chutney which usually isn’t that much to be frozen.

I hope you found the tips helpful. Do you have some other tips up your sleeve? I’d love to know more! Leave a comment below and let me know. And in the meantime, why don’t we move on to our Mint Chutney Recipe