Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney-for-idli-dosa

Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney.

Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.

Every food has a story somewhere. Whenever I speak to my good friend Sunitha, I ask what did you make today? Groundnut Chutney – Peanut chutney would feature in the answer very regularly. She has told me many times that her mother would make tubs of this Groundnut Chutney for their big family when she was young and how much ever she would make, the Groundnut Chutney would be polished off. She doesn’t know of a single time when there was a leftover. She would make this Groundnut Chutney almost everyday. She grew up eating this Groundnut Chutney. After hearing such a story, I wanted to make it too. Groundnut Chutney is easy to make, healthy and can feed a crowd. No problem. After hearing that story, I was eager to try it out. Here is the Groundnut Chutney recipe that I adapted from Sunitha. Its a very nice chutney that goes well with Idli, Dosa and the other south indian breakfast varieties. This Groundnut Chutney recipe has very few ingredients and the peanuts shine. This has now become a regular fare with my family and my little one cant get enough of it. Its really nutty and tasty and very creamy.

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney-for-idli-dosa-recipe

Here is how I do Groundnut Chutney.

We need to first roast the peanuts. Roasting peanuts makes them crisp and brings out the flavor by activating their essential oils. You need to roast the peanuts on a very low flame. Heat a pan with a cup and a half of peanuts and dry roast them until the skin is dark and the aroma is nutty. It will take a good 10 minutes. Roasting on a low flame is important else the nuts might burn on the outside. So take it low and slow. Good things take time. Once roasted, just smash the peanuts with a cup so its easier to de-skin. You can omit this step if you want to keep the skin on for your chutney. But I like it without the skins.

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney-for-idli-dosa-recipe-shell

Just blow air on the peanuts. Do this at an open space outside or you will end up with peanut skin all over your kitchen. Just keep tossing and blowing the peanuts until majority of the peanut skins have been blown away. Set this aside.

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney-for-idli-dosa-recipe-blow

Heat oil in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves of garlic. I added more as my garlic cloves were unbelievably small. Add in the dried red chillies and onions, saute on medium flame for 3-4 minutes until soft. No need to brown. Add in the salt, tamarind and the jaggery. There is an untold rule. Wherever tamarind goes, jaggery also goes. That little addition of jaggery rounds out the flavor and makes it very delicious. Briefly saute for a few seconds and remove off heat. Grind this mixture along with the peanuts to a smooth paste. Add upto 1 cup of water while grinding.

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney-for-idli-dosa-recipe-grind

You can serve as is or do a simple tadka/tempering the following way.
Heat oil in a pan and add couple of dried red chillies and a sprig of curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp (usually 30-40 seconds in medium flame), remove off heat and add it to the Groundnut Chutney.

south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney

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south-indian-groundnut-chutney-peanut-chutney

Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney

Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.

  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the Chutney

  • 1 1/2 cup peanuts
  • 1 teaspoon Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic
  • 2 dried Red chillies
  • 2 medium sized Onions, chopped
  • 1/2 lime size tamarind
  • 1/2 lime size jaggery
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Tempering

  • 2 teaspoon Oil
  • 2 dried Red Chilli
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves

Instructions

  1. Heat a pan with a cup and a half of peanuts and dry roast them until the skin is dark and the aroma is nutty. It will take a good 10 minutes.
  2. Just blow air on the peanuts. Do this at an open space outside or you will end up with peanut skin all over your kitchen. Just keep tossing and blowing the peanuts until majority of the peanut skins have been blown away. Set this aside.
  3. Heat oil in a pan and add in 2-3 cloves of garlic. I added more as my garlic cloves were unbelievably small. Add in the dried red chillies and onions, saute on medium flame for 3-4 minutes until soft. No need to brown. Add in the salt, tamarind and the jaggery. There is an untold rule. Wherever tamarind goes, jaggery also goes. That little addition of jaggery rounds out the flavor and makes it very delicious. Briefly saute for a few seconds and remove off heat. Grind this mixture along with the peanuts to a smooth paste. Add upto 1 cup of water while grinding.
  4. You can serve as is or do a simple tadka/tempering the following way.
  5. Heat oil in a pan and add couple of dried red chillies and a sprig of curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp (usually 30-40 seconds in medium flame), remove off heat and add it to the chutney.
  • Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: Chutney
  • Cuisine: South Indian

groundnut-chut

37 thoughts on “Groundnut Chutney / Peanut Chutney”

  1. The best peanut chutney! I usually detest anything with peanuts. But this is nostalgia for me. Growing up in Chennai it was all punjabi food at home as we’re punjabis so only time I would get to eat authentic south Indian dishes are from the neighbors when they send or from classmates or restaurants. I used to crave this badly. So when I made it I went crazy. I followed the recipe exactly as mentioned except I didnt have jaggery so I used dark brown sugar. The tamarind gives a fantastic subtle tangy flavor. My picky 2yr old gobbled it with idli. Dont laugh but I finished off the rest of the chutney in the bowl with a spoon alone and then licked the remainder of the bowl clean with my finger. Just too too good!! Thank you so much akka!
    Also I have tried a ton of your recipes. Comes out fantastic! Thank you v v much for this. I follow you on IG too. Dont stop sharing pls lol. HAPPY NEW YR!

  2. Hi Suguna,

    Thank you for posting this – looking forward to trying it. I have tried your idli batter recipe with success and want to try this chutney with it.

    I wanted to ask how you store the leftover chutney. If kept in an airtight container in the fridge, can the required amount be warmed up in the microwave?

    Thanks for your help!

  3. Keerthivasan

    very simple and attractive representation shows your ability and experience in food making

  4. I make peanut chutney once a week. This is one of the best receipes i came across. Thanks for sharing. BTW, you said two medium onions. Can you post a picture of the onions for comparison ? The onions in Usa are much bigger than the ones we get in india. Also we get different kinds. I am curious to see which is best for this receipe.






  5. keerthana hariharan

    This chutney was very different from what I make.i tried it and it tastes awesome. Thankyou so much👌

  6. Madhumathi Rajesh

    Hello Kannamma..Tried this chutney and it was an instant favorite for my 2 yr old kid.. He was literally licking his fingers.. :p

    Can you please post recipe of same peanut chutney with coconut instead of onions… Thank you.






  7. Hi Suguna.. after making lipsmacking coconut chutney (following your recipe) I was so excited in trying this yesterday for the same group of friends for super soft idlys (also from your post)!! I made Annaporna hotel sambar (which tasted out of the world) with this chutney (also because I ran out of pottukadalais)…ah one of our friends made me share your link right away whilst eating!! loads of compliments for this chutney.. thank you so much!!

    after living in college hostel for 4 years, I learnt to avoid peanut chutneys but now I am totally in love with it!!






  8. Hi kannamma sis,
    Can we roast d peanuts without skin ??!.if yes how we long to roast ??!
    Thanks






    1. Yes but it would be difficult to remove the skin when peanuts are raw and easily deskinned when it is roasted.

  9. Hi,

    Amazing recipe.. could you recommend how to preserve these type of chutney for like a month or so.. ?
    Please suggest me some preservation methods.

    Thanks!!!
    Janani






  10. Vidhya Shanmugam

    Awesome recipe.. I like to share a similar groundnut chutney, with totally 7 items..

    one cup of roasted peanuts + 3 cloves garlic + 3 red chillies + 1/4 tsp jeera+ 1 tsp Jaggery + 1 cup fresh coriander leaves + salt

    This is also equally good and can make a try.. 🙂






  11. Thanks a lot for this recipe. Its exactly what I was looking for and trying so hard to remember and couldn’t. Off now to do the needful.

  12. I am new to cooking, so pardon me if the question is a dumb one:
    What type of tamarind are we talking about here?? Like those green ones or the red ones?? Tender or ripe??

    I am a northie, one more reason why i am not able to understand this tamarind thing.

  13. Peanut Chutney. Best recipe for South Indian Tamilnadu style Groundnut Chutney that can be served with idli and dosa varieties. Tangy, spicy and creamy.






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