A four-ingredient sweet, spicy, and tangy black raisin chutney. A perfect side that pairs well with many dishes and a great alternative to dates chutney.
Learn how to make this lip-smacking and straightforward raisin chutney with step-wise pictures.
Be it life lessons or managing cooking with what we have, this pandemic has taught us many things—and still teaching a lot of things. I had a different set of thali planned for weeks 4 and 5, and thanks to this pandemic situation, I couldn’t prepare as planned. So, I ended up changing my menu completely.
I wanted to add some dates chutney for a chaat recipe, and I didn’t want to go for groceries just to buy dates or dates chutney. That’s when I decided to use raisins and make chutney, and to my surprise, it came out well and made a few more batches. Now, this raisin chutney has become a staple in our household.
My MIL liked it so much that she had this with yogurt rice, dosai, and parathas. We loved it with parathas, and also I used it as a sandwich spread, and wherever you want to use dates chutney, you can use this raisin chutney.
Some chaat recipes from my archives-
The preparation is very straightforward. You need to soak the raisins in hot water and grind it along with tamarind and spices. Now let’s talk about the ingredients.
Ingredient Details-
Raisins – I used black raisins for this recipe. You can very well use the golden ones. They are plumper and juicier. If you look into these raisins, both are the same; the differences in color and texture come from the way they’re dried.
Golden raisins are dried via special dehydration machines, whereas the regular ones are sun-dried for a more extended period.
Tamarind paste – I used my homemade tamarind paste for this recipe, but you can use marble-sized tamarind pulp instead of paste. You can soak it along with the raisins and grind it.
Spices – I kept the recipe simple and added red chili powder and black salt. I love the natural sulfurous sour flavor that black salt yields. But you can use regular salt and add amchur powder or chaat masala. Along with red chili powder, you can add cumin powder also.
Now that we have seen all the details and the background let’s get straight into the recipe.
How to make raisin chutney-
- Rinse the black raisins and soak in hot water for 30 minutes. You need 1 to 2 tsps of this soaked water to grind the chutney, and you can drink the rest – no need to discard the water.
- In a mixer jar, add the soaked and drained raisins, tamarind paste, red chili powder, and black salt.
- Grind it into a smooth paste by adding 1 to 2 tsps of water. Don’t add a lot of water unless you are making it into a runny chutney or pani puri sweet water.
Recipe Notes-
- If you can’t source black salt, use regular salt and some amchur powder or chaat masala for the tangy taste. I would recommend ¾ tsp of regular salt or to taste and ¼ tsp of chaat masala or amchur powder.
- As always, adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- I haven’t tested this recipe with golden raisins, but it should work well, but the color will differ.
- Instead of tamarind paste, you can use marble-sized tamarind and soak it along with raisins and grind it.
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Other chutneys and relishes-
📖 Recipe
Raisin Chutney | Raisin and Tamarind Chutney
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Mixer jar or coffee grinder
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1 tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;
- ½ cup black raisins rinse and soak for 30 minutes
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- ¾ tsp red chili powder or to taste
- 1 tsp black salt or to taste (refer notes for alternatives)
Instructions
- Rinse the black raisins and soak in hot water for 30 minutes. You need 1 to 2 tsps of this soaked water to grind the chutney, and you can drink the rest – no need to discard the water.
- In a mixer jar, add the soaked and drained raisins, tamarind paste, red chili powder, and black salt.
- Grind it into a smooth paste by adding 1 to 2 tsps of water. Don’t add a lot of water unless you are making it into a runny chutney or pani puri sweet water.
Notes
- If you can’t source black salt, use regular salt and some amchur powder or chaat masala for the tangy taste. I would recommend ¾ tsp of regular salt or to taste and ¼ tsp of chaat masala or amchur powder.
- As always, adjust the salt and spices according to your preference.
- I haven’t tested this recipe with golden raisins, but it should work well, but the color will differ.
- Instead of tamarind paste, you can use marble-sized tamarind and soak it along with raisins and grind it.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Renu says
You are so right, this pandemic has thought us to think out of the box. Love this variation in chutney. Raisin is another healthy ingredient and your chutney looks very tempting.
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Renu.
NARMADHA says
Tamarind chutney with raisins is so innovative idea and looks so delicious. Next time when I am running out of dates will use this idea.
Srividhya G says
Thanks a lot Narmadha.
Harini Rupanagudi says
Good substitution for the dates chutney. I haven’t tried it with parathas but I think they pair well too.
Srividhya G says
It works really well with chaats, paratha and dosai also.
Sharmila Kingsly says
Chutney looks awesome Vidhya .. I am definitely going to try this out soon!!
Srividhya G says
Please do da. You will surely love it.
Srivalli Jetti says
Wow this is surely such a delightful condiment Srividhya, I had a huge batch of raisin that we couldn’t complete, wish I had known it then!..this chutney will be great with parathas and dosas as well.
Srividhya G says
Oh yeah absolutely. Try it when you get a chance. Thanks
Vaishali says
Awesome , I just feel like taking a lick ! The chutney sounds super super delicious , and simple to make . Bookmarking it to try asap ?
Srividhya G says
Thanks, Vaishali, I am sure you will love it.
Suma Gandlur says
That is a smart alternative to replace the dates with raisins and the chutney must be yum. I had done the same thing recently while preparing Bengali tomato chutney. :)
Srividhya G says
Oh that’s nice. Yeah raisins come in handy at times.