
Lemon Chutney
EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP
THEME: #162 LEMON AFFAIR
The popular saying goes “When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well this does not mean that in the literal sense. It’s believed that the phrase was coined by a writer Elbert Hubbard in 1915. The reference to the lemon is in regard to its sourness or difficulty in life and basically indicates to overcome it and get on with life, to have a hopeful and optimistic outlook towards life.
When Sasmita who blogs at First Timer Cook suggested lemons as our #162nd theme she didn’t want use to make lemonade. She wanted us to put on our thinking caps and make something different using lemons. For me that’s not a problem at all as I love lemon, the fragrance of lemon and love drizzling it on almost anything from boiled potatoes to fried cassava and salads. Lemons are the only things that make me salivate.. no truly, whenever I squeeze a lemon, ‘muh main pani aajata hai'(my mouth waters). And my all time favorite pickle is a khatta meetha lemon pickle.
I’ve baked an eggless lemon and yogurt cake for Radhashtami which is today, but cannot blog it for now as it still has to be offered to Radha Krishna. As you know recently I’ve been making oodles of Indian Parathas for the Mega Blogging Marathon. I was quickly running out of pickles and that’s when I thought of making a lemon chutney.
This lemon chutney is my eldest foi’s ‘recipe’. Well she doesn’t have any fixed amounts of ingredients that she would use and now at 90 when I ask her for measurements, she just gets confused. So I just had to remember the method she had narrated to me and the taste and then work on it accordingly. This group theme finally got me to make this aromatic, tangy and sweet chutney and believe it or not my hands were smelling so good the whole day with lemon.
Hubby was going to see a patient at the hospital and I asked him to stop at the green grocers on his way back to buy lemons. His question ‘ we’re leaving in a few days time, why do you need lemon, aren’t you suppose to clear what’s in the fridge?” I just insisted that I wanted lemons and not any lemons. I wanted those big fragrant rather sweetish lemons with a thicker rind and not the more sour and thin skinned Indian lemon. He just rolled his eyes and left. I had my fingers crossed hoping that he would buy them or else I’d have to go to the green grocers. He did come home with the lemons and I was like a little girl getting an ice cream as a treat.
With 2 lemons I made chutney and the other one I used to bake the cake. You’ve got make this chutney as its so different from the usual green chutneys we make. Served with parathas, chilas, dosas, or in between bread as a sandwich spread, this chutney tastes awesome.
LEMON CHUTNEY
Makes about 1 cup
2 large lemons (if using the small ones then you need to take 4-5 of them)
¼ – ⅓ cup sugar (use brown, normal or jaggery powder)
1-2 tbsp red chilli powder ( I used half Kashmiri chilli powder and half hot red chilli powder)
¼ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tbsp coriander powder (dhana powder)
1 tsp fennel seed powder (saunf, valiyari powder)
½ tsp salt
¼ – ⅓ cup oil
- Wash the lemons properly. Put them in a saucepan with enough water.
- Cover the pan and put it on medium heat.
- Let the whole lemons simmer in the water till soft and done.
- Remove from the water and let the lemons cool down a bit. Don’t throw away the water. Read the tip below on how to use this aromatic water.
- Cut the lemon into wedges and remove the seeds. Cut of the thick white pith at the top.
- Put the chopped lemon along with the sugar in a food processor and process to a coarse paste.
- Heat oil on a pan over low heat.
- Add red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
- Immediately add the pureed lemon.
- Mix well. Take the pan off the heat.
- Add salt, coriander and fennel powders.
- Mix well.
- Serve the chutney with parathas, dosa, chila, as a sandwich spread or with any snack.
- Store the chutney in a jar and in the fridge.
Tips:
- I put the water in which the lemons were boiled into a spray bottle and sprayed the house with it. Had the lemon scent at least for a couple of hours.
- Add chilli powder according to your taste.
- Roast coriander and fennel seeds before you powder it.
- Store leftover chutney in the fridge.
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962
You may want to check out my other recipes using lemon:





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28 Comments
The girl next door
September 17, 2018 at 8:08 pm
I make a South Indian lemon chutney often, and we absolutely love it. Your version sounds really interesting too! 🙂
mayurisjikoni
September 17, 2018 at 8:19 pm
Thnanks Priya. Would love to know what you add for the South Indian version.
Seema Doraiswamy Sriram
September 18, 2018 at 6:42 am
I have always had the spicy sweet lemon pickle, but this is a new one to me. with the tangy lemon to tie it all, it is a sure welcome
mayurisjikoni
September 18, 2018 at 5:16 pm
Thanks Seema, try the chutney, its easy to make and tasty.
Batter Up With Sujata
September 18, 2018 at 11:29 am
Chutney looks lip-smacking Mayuri. Loved the vibrant colour. Can’t wait to try it out. Lovely share.
mayurisjikoni
September 18, 2018 at 5:11 pm
Thank you so much Sujata.
poonampagar
September 18, 2018 at 11:37 am
The lemon chutney sounds interesting di ! I had always thought grinding boiled lemons with skin would make them bitter. Would love to try your version di. Thanks for the share.
mayurisjikoni
September 18, 2018 at 5:10 pm
Thanks Poonam, I read somewhere that boiling the lemons removes the bitterness. This chutney did not taste bitter at all. Just have to remember to remove the seeds and any thick white part.
Sasmita Sahoo Samanta
September 19, 2018 at 9:27 am
I do like the lemon pickle But lemon chutney !!! new for me and tempting me to try my hand soon ….. Awesome share for theme 🙂
mayurisjikoni
September 19, 2018 at 7:52 pm
Thanks Sasmita…try it..it really delicious.
Preethi Prasad
September 22, 2018 at 7:01 am
A lip smacking vibrant chutney.Bookmarking it .Can’t wait to try this awesome recipe.Loved the tip to use the boiled lemon water.
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:54 pm
Thanks Preethi try the chutney and yes the house for a while was smelling lemony good 🙂
Saswati
September 23, 2018 at 8:07 pm
What a different chutney recipe..I can taste it with a khakra..yumm yumm.
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:41 pm
Thank you so much Saswati.
Sujata Shukla
September 24, 2018 at 10:21 am
I just realised after reading this post that I have not tried a lemon chutney before! Orange peel, yes but not lemon. Sounds tasty and easy to make. Thanks for sharing, Mayuri!
mayurisjikoni
October 4, 2018 at 6:36 pm
Most welcome Sujata, please try the lemon chutney, it does turn out really good. I will have to try the orange peel one 🙂
veena
September 29, 2018 at 4:25 pm
wow!!This is new to me and I shall make this soon and send you a picture. Mouthwatering Mayuri!!
mayurisjikoni
September 29, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Thank you so much Veena, please do try it and share a picture.
Vasusvegkitchen
June 2, 2019 at 4:39 am
Lemon chutney looks vibrant and mouthwatering, never tried and tasted sweet lemon chutney. It’s new to me, hubby like lemon pickle for curd rice. Will try it soon, good share👍
mayurisjikoni
June 3, 2019 at 11:40 am
Thank you Aruna, I’ve used this chutney with theplas, rice, khichdi and even in sandwiches. I’ve tried making it with the thin skinned lemons we get in India and its not as good as it is with the thick skinned lemons.
shobhakeshwani
June 2, 2019 at 1:02 pm
Sweetand tangy lemon chutney looks different and yummy. I will try it out soon.
mayurisjikoni
June 3, 2019 at 11:38 am
Thank you Shobha.
FoodTrails
June 2, 2019 at 5:08 pm
This one is so different from the usual lemon pickles.. will surely want to give it a try. I love the khatta Meetha taste and it is so perfect for me..
mayurisjikoni
June 3, 2019 at 11:36 am
Thanks Swati and you get lovely yellow lemons so try it.
Mina Joshi
June 2, 2019 at 7:44 pm
Just reading your recipe was making me crave for this chutney.It would be perfect with parathas. I will try making this in the instant pot.
mayurisjikoni
June 3, 2019 at 11:35 am
Thanks Mina, let me know how you do it so whenever I’m in Montreal can make it in the IP as my son has one.
Renu Agrawal Dongre
June 4, 2019 at 11:09 pm
This chutney sounds fascinating and very easy to make. I would just spread this on roti or simple add in to Dal and rice and can enjoy. Awesome tips of using the lemon water.
mayurisjikoni
June 9, 2019 at 12:36 am
Thank you so much Renu.