Dhaniya or Cilantro Chutney

Dhaniya or Cilantro chutney

Dhaniya chutney is an iconic condiment of North Indian cuisine. This chutney was used to be prepared in winters because dhania leaves were available only in winters.  But now, you can get this year long and make chutney anytime.

As I live in Chicago, we do not do fresh veggies and fruits shopping everyday,  so preserving Dhaniya for longer period is such a task. It wilts and needs to be thrown in the trash can. We prepare chutney and keep it in fridge for 3-4 days, but the taste and color changes. To prevent color change, we add white vinegar but then the taste does not remain the same.

Once I visited a Gujarati friend Bhawna, and she made aalu bonda and with this, she served her frozen dhaniya chutney which was fantastic,  vibrant in color and fresh in taste. I could not ask her the recipe as I was too shy to reveal that I never knew this tip! I was immensely surprised as how the color is was so vibrant and taste was as it was just made. Because when we freeze coriander leaves,  the color and taste are gone.

But recently I thought to give it a try while I was making Dhaniya chutney and just froze 1 small container to see what happens. And it was a pleasant surprise for me to see that the color remained same as freshly made and so was the taste! Since then, I make chutney in bulk and freeze. Even for next day, I prefer to use frozen chutney as nothing changes. Generally when you use the chutney next day, the sourness tends to turn a little pungent but here with frozen chutney,  it remains as fresh as flower!

Just take out from freezer beforehand and thaw for half an hour at least.

Enjoy!