A couple of weeks ago I bought a bunch of coriander (cilantro) to garnish a dish I had prepared for friends. Amid the throes of catching up, I completely forgot to garnish the plate, and wound up with an entire bunch of the aromatic green herb in my fridge.

Wondering what to do with it, we eventually decided to make coriander chutney to use as an accompaniment – and it turned out perfectly! So here is our recipe, for the whole world to enjoy! Spice up seafood, curry, samosas or whatever you like! Use it as a dip, or have it on bread with afternoon tea – how very desi 🙂

It’s not much to look at, but it sure brings food alive!

Coriander Chutney

Makes about 100g of chutney, takes 5 minutes to prepare

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• whole bunch coriander
• 1 teaspoon chilli paste (or 1 whole chilli) or to taste
• small piece of ginger (about 3 cms long), or 2 teaspoons crushed ginger
• 2 cloves garlic (or 2 teaspoons of crushed garlic)
• 2 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar

Method

1. Place all ingredients in an electric food mixer. If you don’t like spice, then be careful with the chilli – you can always add more later.

2. Grind on low, then high speed for approximately one minute.

3. Once the ingredients are combined, taste and check. If it’s too sour, add a little more sugar or salt. If it’s too sweet then add one or two more teaspoons of lemon juice.

4. Serve as a condiment with subcontinental or south east Asian meals. Refrigerate for storage up to 5 days.