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Tomato Chutney is a tangy and tasty South Indian chutney made from tomatoes, herbs and spices. There are many variations of making tomato chutney aka thakkali chutney in Regional Indian Cuisine. I am sharing 2 such tasty variations in this post.

  • Tomato Chutney – With Tempering. No Onion No Garlic Version.
  • Onion Tomato Chutney – Easy Recipe with no tempering and with flavors of onions.

Both the versions of tomato chutney taste good and go well with South Indian Snacks like Idli, Dosa, Vada or Uttapam.

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tomato chutney recipe, tomato chutney, tomato chutney for dosa idlitomato chutney recipe, tomato chutney, tomato chutney for dosa idli

This Tomato chutney a spicy, tangy and tasty South Indian chutney and pairs extremely well with idli, dosa, uttapam, pakora or vada varieties.

Apart from the tangy taste of the tomatoes, there is one more ingredient in this chutney which gives a distinct warm aroma and flavor to the chutney – cloves.

I just added two cloves and found it gave a really good strong aroma to the chutney. You can also add one clove to make its flavor & aroma less dominant in the chutney. On refrigerating the chutney the aroma does mellow down.

Chutneys are commonly made in every Indian home. So there are many varieties of chutney. Along with the famous Coconut chutney, even veggies and fruits are used to make chutneys.

Few more tomato chutney recipes are:

  • Kara chutney – Spicy chutney.
  • Tomato pachadi – an Andhra style tomato chutney which is tangy, sour and spicy.
  • Momos chutney – spicy chutney for momos made with tomatoes, garlic and red chilies.

This tomato chutney is a no onion no garlic recipe. Though if you want you can add onions as well as garlic.

It goes very well with idli, dosa, uttapam or vada varieties. You can even serve them with pakoras.

How to make Tomato Chutney

1. heat ½ tbsp oil and add 1 tsp urad dal (split husked black gram).

urad dal for tomato chutney recipe

urad dal for tomato chutney recipe

2. on a low flame, saute the urad dal till they start turning maroonish brown.

sauting urad dal for tomato chutney recipe

sauting urad dal for tomato chutney recipe

3. once the lentils get a maroonish brown color, add 2-3 broken dry red chilies, 2-3 cloves, 4-5 black pepper and ½ inch chopped ginger. Stir till the red chilies change their color.

spices for tomato chutney recipe

spices for tomato chutney recipe

4. then add 2 large chopped tomatoes (1 cup tightly packed chopped tomatoes) and a pinch of asafoetida/hing.

making tomato chutney recipe

making tomato chutney recipe

5. add salt as required.

salt for tomato chutney recipe

salt for tomato chutney recipe

6. stir and saute till the tomatoes soften. About 6 to 7 minutes on a low flame.

making tomato chutney recipe

making tomato chutney recipe

7. once the tomato mixture cools, add them to a chutney grinder or small blender. add 2 tbsp water and grind to a smooth paste. You can also add 1 or 2 tbsp more water if required.

tomato mixture for tomato chutney recipe

tomato mixture for tomato chutney recipe

For tempering tomato chutney

8. in the same pan or a different pan, heat ½ tbsp oil. add ½ tsp mustard seeds and crackle them.

tempering for tomato chutney recipe

tempering for tomato chutney recipe

9. Then add 7-8 curry leaves, 2-3 methi seeds (fenugreek seeds), a pinch of asafoetida and one broken red chili. Saute till the curry leaves become crisp.

tempering for tomato chutney recipe

tempering for tomato chutney recipe

10. Then add the ground tomato paste.

add tomato paste for tomato chutney recipe

add tomato paste for tomato chutney recipe

11. Stir well.

stir tomato chutney mixture

stir tomato chutney mixture

12. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame.

saute tomato chutney

saute tomato chutney

13. Check the taste and add more salt if required.

making tomato chutney recipe

making tomato chutney recipe

14. Stir again.

tomato chutney recipe, tamatar ki chutney recipe

tomato chutney recipe, tamatar ki chutney recipe

15. The tomato chutney is done and ready to be served with idli or dosa or uttapam or snacks like masala vada, dal vada.

tomato chutney recipe, thakkali chutney recipe

tomato chutney recipe, thakkali chutney recipe

This post is from the archives and has been republished and updated on 29 May 2020. 


Many of my recipes have detailed step by step photos and useful tips to help you make it easily and perfectly.

Easy Tomato Chutney

This South Indian Tomato Chutney for dosa is spicy, tangy and tasty chutney made from tomatoes. No onion no garlic thakkali chutney.

tomato chutney recipetomato chutney recipe

Servings (change the number to scale):2 to 3

(1 CUP = 250 ML)

making tomato chutney

  • Heat oil and add urad dal. On a low flame, saute the urad dal till they start turning maroonish.

  • Once the lentils get a maroonish brown color, add broken dry red chilies, cloves, black pepper and ginger. Stir for till the red chilies change their color.

  • Then add chopped tomatoes and asafoetida. Add salt.

  • Stir and saute till the tomatoes soften. About 6 to 7 minutes on a low flame.

  • Once the tomato mixture cools, add them to a chutney grinder or small blender.

  • Add 2 tbsp water and grind to a smooth paste.

for tempering tomato chutney

  • In the same pan or different pan, heat 1 tbsp oil.

  • Add the mustard seeds and crackle them.

  • Then add curry leaves, methi seeds, asafoetida and one broken red chili. Saute till the curry leaves become crisp.

  • Then add the ground tomato paste. Stir well.

  • Saute for 3 to 4 minutes on a low flame. Check the taste and add more salt if required.

  • Stir again. The chutney is done and ready to be served.

  • This tomato chutney pairs extremely well with idli, dosa, uttapam or vada varieties. You can even serve this thakkali chutney with pakoras.

Nutrition Facts

Easy Tomato Chutney

Amount Per Serving

Calories 129 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Fat 8g12%

Sodium 1177mg51%

Potassium 483mg14%

Carbohydrates 13g4%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 1710IU34%

Vitamin C 182.4mg221%

Calcium 32mg3%

Iron 1.5mg8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.


All our content & photos are copyright protected. Please do not copy. As a blogger, if you you want to adapt this recipe or make a youtube video, then please write the recipe in your own words and give a clickable link back to the recipe on this url.

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Recipe 2 – Easy Onion Tomato Chutney

To make this onion tomato chutney is easy and you can just change the taste a bit here or there, by altering the proportions of onion, tomato, dry red chilies and tamarind.

I have used equal proportions in weight of the onion and tomato in this recipe.

onion tomato chutney, tomato onion chutney

onion tomato chutney, tomato onion chutney

I have not tempered the chutney towards the end, but just to perk up and make it more flavorsome you can temper with mustard seeds, dry red chilies and curry leaves.

But there is really no need. As the chutney tastes good even without tempering.

I served the tomato onion chutney with crisp dosas made in an easy way. No soaking and grinding method. Its so easy to make dosa using the method shared in the recipe.

How to make tomato onion chutney

1. Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil (or peanut oil) and add ½ tsp urad dal.

oil for making onion tomato chutney recipe

oil for making onion tomato chutney recipe

2. Once they start to become light brown, add 1-2  dry red chilies. So by the time the urad dal turns to a maroonish color, the red chilies would also have changed color. Make sure you don’t burn them.

red chilies for onion tomato chutney recipe

red chilies for onion tomato chutney recipe

3. Add 2 medium sized chopped onions (100 grams onion) and saute till they are light golden.

onions for onion tomato chutney recipe

onions for onion tomato chutney recipe

4. When the onions have become light golden, add 2 medium sized chopped tomatoes (100 grams), a pinch of asafoetida and salt as required.

tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

5. Stir and saute till the tomatoes have softened and cooked. This step is important as you don’t want the raw aroma of tomatoes in the chutney. If the tomatoes start sticking to the pan, then just sprinkle some water on them and continue to saute.

tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

6. So now the tomatoes are cooked and softened.

cooked tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

cooked tomatoes for onion tomato chutney recipe

7. Let the chutney mixture become warm or cool. Later add in a chutney grinder or a small blender jar. Add a small piece of tamarind (approx ½ tsp of seedless tightly packed tamarind) too.

onion tomato chutney mixture

onion tomato chutney mixture

8. Without adding any water grind the chutney till smooth. You can also make it semi coarse if you prefer. If you are unable to grind, then you can add some water.

onion tomato chutney recipe preparation

onion tomato chutney recipe preparation

9. Serve the onion tomato chutney as an accompaniment with idli or dosa or medu vada.

onion tomato chutney recipe, onion tomato chutney

onion tomato chutney recipe, onion tomato chutney

If you are looking for more
Chutney recipes then do check:


Many of my recipes have detailed step by step photos and useful tips to help you make it easily and perfectly.

Easy Onion Tomato Chutney (Without Tempering)

Easy to make onion tomato chutney for South Indian Snacks like idli, dosa and vada.

onion tomato chutney recipeonion tomato chutney recipe

Servings (change the number to scale):2 to 3

(1 CUP = 250 ML)

  • Heat the oil. Lower the flame. Add the urad dal and when they start to become light brown, add the red chilies.

  • Saute till the urad dal become golden.

  • Add the onions and saute till light brown. Add the tomatoes and asafoetida. Season with salt.

  • Saute till the tomatoes become soft, pulpy and are completely cooked. The rawness of the tomatoes should go away, otherwise you will get the raw aroma of the tomatoes in the chutney.

  • Cool this onion tomato mixture and then grind in a chutney grinder with tamarind. No need to add water while grinding. But if you are unable to grind then add little water.

  • Check the taste and add some more salt or tamarind if required and continue to grind to a smooth chutney. Pour the chutney in a serving bowl.

  • You can temper the chutney with mustard seeds, dry red chilies and curry leaves if you want. But without the tempering, also the onion chutney tastes good.

  • Serve tomato onion chutney with idli, dosa or medu vada.


All our content & photos are copyright protected. Please do not copy. As a blogger, if you you want to adapt this recipe or make a youtube video, then please write the recipe in your own words and give a clickable link back to the recipe on this url.

Then do follow and SUBSCRIBE to us on youtube to get the latest Recipe Video updates.