Kailash Parbat’s mirchi kachori chaat with imli and mirchi chutneys.
There are restaurants I would not visit as often as I do if they stopped serving chutney. Most times, they serve chutney that I wish was for sale, but is, for better or worse, only available during a meal at the restaurant. This, of course, would have to be no ordinary coconut or coriander-mint combination. Like kharda, that burn-inducing, garlic-scented condiment of joy, a good chutney should fit at least one of these three criteria: it should taste great by the spoonful, unadulterated; the food it is meant to accompany should not taste as good without it; and it should be easy to make a satisfying meal or snack of it, by scooping it up with roti or any bread. Here are a few restaurant chutneys that qualify.
Creamy Golden Chutney at Taste Yum
Taste Yum distinguishes itself from the other roll joints on Carter Road with its naan rolls (other stalls use rotis or pita). The fluffy, slightly chewy and tangy bread is filled with the standard chicken kebab and paneer stuffings. But what makes it truly stand out is the pale chutney that they offer in squeeze bottles. Even the owner doesn’t know the recipe for it. He buys it from a supplier in Gujarat. It’s creamy, with flecks of green chilli in it. People familiar with “golden chutney”—the more common street name for Rajkot chutney—will recognise this as a more sophisticated version. (For the original rasta version, visit Golden Bhelwala at Sikka Nagar, near Fadke Mandir in Mumbai, the chaat place that gets its name from this famous “Golden” chutney of Rajkot)
Ground Floor, Gagangiri Building, next to Yoforia, off Carter Road, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 6526 6531.
Masala Imli “Meetha” Chutney at Kailash Parbat
The key to KP’s pani puri is their tamarind chutney. Sure, their spicy green pani is excellent too, but a puri without any meetha chutney just doesn’t stimulate the salivary glands as much. “Meetha” is bit of a misnomer. The sugar is there just to balance out the fruity, sharp tang of the tamarind and the proprietary cumin-rich masala blend that goes into it. This chutney is versatile. It’s used in all their chaats, including the mood-altering mirchi kachori chaat, and also forms part of the topping for their dal pakwan.
Luis Belle Building, corner of 16th Road and 30th Road, opposite Shiv Sagar, Pali Naka, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 2648 0080. For other locations, see here.
The Chutney That Accompanies Prawns Thecha at Pali Bhavan
I had a not-quite-nice neighbour to whom I would say hello if I had to in the building lift simply because her cook introduced me to this glorious thecha-style Maharashtrian roasted salted peanut-garlic-green chilli chutney. I have loved the combination of flavours ever since. She chopped all three ingredients finely and then shallow fried them in peanut oil until they were crunchy and golden. The chutney smelled so fantastic that it made all the residents on our floor drool. At the week-old Pali Bhavan, the thick, light green chutney doesn’t look anything like the fried chutney, but tastes exactly like it.
1510/13 Adarsh Nagar, next to Costa Coffee, Pali Naka, Bandra (West). Tel: 022 2651 9400.
Tamarind-Tomato-Onion Chutney at Samovar Cafe
Two shallow steel bowls of chutney are on every table at this eatery. Who even bothers with their green chutney? Not many, because it’s almost always slightly discoloured and seems less than fresh. It’s the other one, red and glossy, with tiny bits of onion and cilantro in it, that gets all the attention, and it should. There isn’t a single savoury dish at Samovar that is not improved by it. Parathas, toasties, roti rolls, biryani, omelette, dahi aloo chaat, I’ve poured it over everything. Sometimes I even ask for an extra bowl.
Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda. Tel: 022 2204 7276.
“Plastic Chutney” at Bong Bong, Papaya Chutney at Kebabs and Kurries
Syrupy, with thin, transparent slices of raw papaya, and stippled with kalonji seeds for a pickle-like flavour, a well-made sweet papaya chutney beats the salty kind you get at various gathiya shops around the city. Bong Bong calls their version “plastic” chutney because the slivers of unripe vegetable look like bits of soft, colourless plastic sheets. For people who like to cut the sweetness with some tang, Kebabs & Kurries does a slightly tart version. The chutney tray arrives on the table just as diners are seated, and it’s easy to shamelessly wipe it clean even before the complimentary papads arrive.
Bong Bong, junction of 16th Road and 33rd Road, (adjacent to Khan-e-Khas), Bandra (West). Tel: 022 6555 5567; Kebab & Kurries, ITC Grand Central, 287, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Parel. Tel: 022 40175110.
Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi is a Mumbai-based food journalist, a contributing editor atVogue magazine, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City, and the restaurant reviewer for the Hindustan Times newspaper in Mumbai.