Chutney

Chutney is a condiment of the Indian subcontinent made in forms ranging from fresh preparations, such as coriander chutneys, to cooked, sweetened versions like mango chutney; during the British Raj, Anglo-Indian cuisine adapted chutney and carried it back to Britain, where green mango chutney in particular became popular, and it later spread across the West as both a homemade and commercially sold product. The word comes from the Hindi and Urdu chatni, from a Sanskrit root meaning to lick or to taste, and in South India related condiments are called pachadi in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. Documented use goes back to the early sixteenth century, including a description by Duarte Barbosa around 1516 of chutney served with curries; Mughal court kitchens made varieties with dried fruit, rose petals and saffron, and by the seventeenth century British East India Company travelers found chutney useful for sea voyages and brought it home, where British cooks adapted the recipes with local ingredients.