Onion Tomato Chutney
Tomato Onion Chutney Recipe is a lip-smacking chutney, perfect accompaniment for Dosa & Idli. This Vegan Tomato chutney recipe is a quintessential South-Indian classic chutney that can be made with staple pantry ingredients.
You will love this WHITE COCONUT CHUTNEY TOO!
Learn to make this easy onion tomato chutney with step by step photo in 20 minutes.
HOMEMADE TOMATO CHUTNEY
Talk about South Indian breakfast, you have got to have onion tomato chutney & coconut chutney to serve along.
Not just Idli Dosa, I love serving Onion Uttapam, Instant Oats Idli, Rava Pongal & Ven Pongal with this homemade tomato chutney.
My sister in law makes some of the delicious chutney’s and this tomato onion chutney is from her repository. I have been making her version of chutney for a few years now, but there are always new tweaks in it, to suit the flavours of the day.
We make Dosa ( also known as Lentil Pancakes ) at least twice a week and serve them with either this chutneys or dosa milagai podi ( also known as edible gunpowder ) or tiffin sambar or chutney powder.
Talk about Chutney’s we have got so so many choices to pick from. White Coconut Chutney is usually the hot favourite apart from tiffin sambar. But if you are looking for dosa chutney without coconut or idli chutney without coconut or even onion tomato chutney without coconut, then you have to try this keep safe tomato chutney recipe.
Let me tell you,
This Onion Tomato Chutney
- is an ideal chutney dip for dosa, idli, pongal, vada, upma and even rice.
- so easy to make and ready in less than 20 minutes
- uses staple ingredients from the pantry
- is easily customisable
- is VEGAN & GLUTEN FREE
- stores well in refrigerator for at-least a week and more than 3 months in the freezer.
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE THIS ONION TOMATO CHUTNEY RECIPE
This South Indian chutney has got really simple ingredients. Lets start with
Tomatoes – Use ripe red Vine Tomatoes. Tomatoes render gorgeous colour to this south indian chutney.
Onions – I have used white onions for this tomato chutney. However, you might use red onions too which adds some excellent flavours.
Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves adds deep flavours to the chutney. I would not recommend using garlic puree.
Dried Red Chilly – We like our chutney mildly spiced. Hence I have added just 2 red chillies. You may as well add more to make it spicer.
Curry Leaves – I love the rustic flavours from the curry leaves in chutney.
Tamarind ( Optional ) – Tamarind Pulp adds that extra tang to the chutney. But you can feel free to leave it out too.
Seasoning – I like elevate the flavours in my chutneys with mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chillies. But, this chutney tastes wonderful without the tempering too.
HOW TO MAKE TOMATO CHUTNEY RECIPE STEP BY STEP ?
The whole idea is to cook the vegetables until the raw smell is eliminated. Allow them to cool down and then puree them into a smooth paste. Tempering the chutney with curry leaves , mustard seeds, urad dal and red chillies elevate the flavours. But it is completely optional if you would like to leave it out.
First, to make this easy tomato Chutney recipe – dice the onions, tomatoes separately and keep it aside.
1.Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, curry leaves, red chillies, onion. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes until onion is translucent.
2.Add the tomatoes and Sauté until mixed.
3. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
4. Allow the mixture to cool down and transfer the mixture to a blender.
5.Blend until a smooth chutney is obtained. Adjust Salt to suit the taste.
6.Transfer the chutney into the serving bowl .
7.Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds, urad Dal, curry leaves and red chillies. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter and now season the chutney with the prepared tempering.
8.Serve this prepared chutney with dosa & idli.
HOW TO STORE TOMATO ONION CHUTNEY?
Store this homemade chutney in an airtight jar and it will stay fresh for up to a week in the refrigerator. Alternatively you may as well freeze them for a few months. Remember to store the chutney in small portions when storing it in freezer. Once the onion tomato chutney is thawed, it cannot be frozen again.
HAVE YOU MADE MY VEGAN TOMATO CHUTNEY ?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sandhyaskitchen. I would love to see your take on this chutney.
YOU WILL ALSO LOVE THESE CHUTNEY FOR DOSA / IDLI
South Indian onion tomato chutney recipe below

Ingredients
- 2 Tsp Oil
- 175 g 1 Medium Onion diced
- 350 g 2 Large Vine Tomatoes diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Dried Red Chilly
- 5-6 Curry Leaves
- Salt To Taste
- 2 Tsp Tamarind pulp optional
- 1 Tsp Jaggery crushed optional
For Tempering:
- 1 Tsp Oil
- 3/4 Tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 Tsp Urd Dal
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves
- 3-4 Dried Red Chilly
Instructions
- Heat oil in a kadai/ pan and add garlic, curry leaves, red chillies, onion and a pinch of salt.
- Sauté for about 3-4 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add the tomatoes & Tamarind Pulp{ optional } and Sauté until mixed. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.
- Allow the mixture to cool down.
- If you like it sweeter, add 1 tsp of Jaggery. This step is completely optional.
- Transfer the mixture to a blender and blitz until a smooth chutney is obtained.
- Adjust Salt to suit the taste.
- Transfer the chutney into the serving bowl.
- Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds, urad Dal, curry leaves and red chillies. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter and now season the chutney with the prepared tempering.
- Serve onion tomato chutney with dosa & idli.
Notes
Recipe was first published on 17th November 2011.
awesome clicks of a tempting chutney and they were just as delicious with nachos.
Thank you Julie, This Tomato Chutney is easy and lipsmacking. It goes well with almost everything!
Chutney looks delicious…Loved the serving bowls…Clicks are too good…
very delicious chutney…looks superb n yumm..love 2 hav it wid idli
yummy chutney with beautiful clicks…
great clicks as always. this chutney is my fav too.
Flavourful and yummy chutney, beautiful clicks
Well I have have few iddles more with the tomato chutney my dear..looks tasty..just love the color
It looks delicious. Such a tempting chutney. I am making chutney today too, but it won't look anywhere as pretty as this 🙂
Tempting chutneys and lovely colours
This chutney is very dear to me too….love the green and red and the beautifully sitting tadka:)
I love tomato chutney….looks so beautiful and lovely clicks as well sandhya:)
delicious and tempting chutney…
Super flavourful chutney,love with idlis.
Yum Yum Yum
What a drooling post & clicks!
Tangy and yummy chutney..makes me drool
Wow..I am drooling here,sandhya..This is a stunning pic on chutney
Will try soon 🙂
Thanks for all those lovely comments on my space Sandhya. You have a great space as well. I am wondering how I missed this lovely blog of yours. The chutney looks fabulous. Loved the shots of the onions 🙂
oh my ghsoh…thats a mouthwatering chutney..Looks morish & u have nailed it Sandhya…Perfect consistency & flavors..Fab clicks..:)
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
This looks fantastic. very inviting too.
Tried out this chutney & it turned out awesome….
.U have made it perfectly..Love to try this chutney recipe.
i get dosa batter from east ham once a month (sadly its too far away, otherwise i would have made it a regular) and it lasts us for exactly 2 meals…i usually get away with just sambar and a coconut chutney, but on occasions ive wanted 2 make tomato chutney..il keep this recipe in mind the next time 🙂
wonderful photographs!!!!! Love yuour blog!
–
Your new fan, 😀
Kavi | Edible Entertainment
Ongoing event: Healthy Lunch Challenge
I m drooling over those lovely chutneys…reminds me of chennai trip when I had loads of this chutneys,I was impressed by those chutneys so much and tried to make it myself few times but never got the taste of chennai chutneys..I will book mark this one !!
What a marvelous chutney! Really tempting and beautifully presented.
Cheers,
Rosa
Awesome clicks and super delicious chutney..
Muskaan
my favourite chutney too.. beautiful pics…
Just mouthwatering…looks so easy to prepare and delicious!
This Tomato Chutney is an excellent side dish for South Indian dishes – Dosa, Idli, Pongal, Utapam
Looks so good! A few crisp dosas and we'll be happy campers 🙂
This looks absolutely amazing!!!! I need to try this…… x
Tomato Chutney is so versatile. They make a great dip with most appetisers. Even Samosa’s too!
My boys love onion tomato chutney so much that they will eat an extra idli or two with it. Love the pictures and makes me want to eat some right now!
Thanks Sandhya.. Tasty Side dishes like this and coconut chutney make us reach out for more.. isn’t it?
This sounds scrumptious, so many incredible flavors combine to make the perfect comfort dish. I would love to have this over some basmati rice.
I make onion tomato chutney like this. Your photo makes it more delectable. I agree with you these are best side dish for dosa.
Thank you Swathi.. Yeah.. this chutney is one of the best side dishes for dosa.
Super delicious n easy chutney that I ever had. Its just awesome.
So glad you loved our Easy Tomato Chutney!! They are delicious with Onion, Dosa and sometimes with poppadoms too.