Sweet & Sour Tomato Chutney

This recipe came about through the generosity of a fellow food blogger. Barnali – whose name, I later discovered, has something to do with rainbows – wrote from Bengal about a sweet and sour tomato chutney that immediately caught my attention. I changed several things along the way, but the essential character remains: sweet, sour, warmly spiced, and completely its own thing.

Sweet Sour Tomato Chutney – The Flexible Chef

The spice blend that makes this chutney distinctive is Panch Phoran – a Bengali five-spice mix of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard and fennel seeds in equal parts. It goes into hot oil whole, crackling and popping before anything else is added, and it gives the finished chutney an aromatic depth that no ground spice blend quite replicates. There's no dedicated Panch Phoran post on this site yet, but there will be.

The palm sugar — organic, bought online — adds a rounded sweetness that brown sugar approximates but doesn't quite match. If you're in Spain, panela from the supermarket is a reasonable local substitute. The tomato marmalade (mermelada de tomate) is widely available in Spanish supermarkets and adds a jammy richness at the end. Outside Spain, tomato purée does the same job.

It goes well with everything. I said that in 2015 and I haven't changed my mind.

Sweet sour tomato chutney

Ingredients (makes approximately 3–4 jars)

• ½ tsp each: fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds — this is your Panch Phoran
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 150g palm sugar — or brown sugar, or panela
• A small knob of fresh ginger, grated
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 whole dried red chillies, flaked
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 150ml water
• 50ml apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp tomato marmalade or tomato purée
• A generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Method

1. Place a frying pan over a low heat and add the oil. When it shimmers add the Panch Phoran spices. Let them crackle and pop for a minute until fragrant.
2. Add the grated ginger and sauté for one minute. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and white pepper. Stir gently and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add the vinegar and cook for one minute, then add the water. Reduce the heat and simmer for one to two hours depending on how much liquid the tomatoes release — Andalucían tomatoes in September give up a lot of juice.
4. Add the tomato marmalade and palm sugar and continue cooking until you have a syrupy, jammy consistency — this may take another hour. Keep a close eye on it towards the end, as it can catch on the bottom easily.
5. Stir through a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Remove the bay leaves.
6. Leave to cool, then pour into sterilised jars and seal. Store in the refrigerator.

A note on patience

Give this chutney 4–6 weeks before opening — the flavours mellow, and the sweetness and sourness find their balance with time. It will keep for several months in the refrigerator.

Footnote This sweet sour tomato chutney recipe is part of my Curry Recipes collection — the complete guide to curries, spice blends, bases, chutneys and sides from The Flexible Chef. Explore the full Curry Recipes hub.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef