Bombay Chutney or Besan Chutney is a curry-like dish made using chickpea flour and spices. It is a great side dish for poori, dosa, idli, chapati, or roti. Here is how to make it.
Here are some more South Indian Chutney recipes, that can be served with your breakfast – South Indian Coconut Chutney, South Indian Tomato Onion Chutney, Green Coconut Chutney, Red Coconut Chutney, and Andhra Style Peanut Chutney.
Jump to:
What is Bombay Chutney?
Bombay Chutney is a vegan and gluten-free Indian side dish made using gram flour or chickpea flour and Indian spices.
Scrumptious and spicy, this Bombay Chutney is something that you need to serve with your crispy Dosa or soft Idli for a delicious weekday breakfast or any other meal of the day. It also goes perfectly with Chapati and Poori.
Also called Besan Chutney or Kadalai Maavu Chutney, I had this incredible chutney in Andhra Pradesh during a family trip at a roadside tiffin center. Later I came to know that it is popular in Tamil Nadu too.
This chutney is inspired by a very popular Maharashtrian dish Pithla and has been modified slightly to suit the South Indian Palate.
Tomatoes and Green Chillies adds a sweet, tart, and spicy taste in this gram flour-based recipe. All the flavors in one chutney, what else you need?
This Bombay Besan Chutney is,
- Vegan
- Gluten-Free
- Extremely easy & quick
- Unique
- Delicious
- Perfect to serve with Dosa & Idli
Ingredients
Tomato – Use red and ripe tomatoes to make this chutney for the best taste.
Besan – Besan gives it a nice texture and adds to the taste. Besan and tomatoes go really well along and makes this chutney even more delicious. Quality of besan is very important to make a good chutney. Make sure the besan is fresh and not stale.
Spices – This recipe uses basic spice powders that include turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and salt.
Curry Leaves and Green Chillies – Curry Leaves gives this Chutney a South Indian touch and a distinct flavor too, whereas Green Chillies gives it that right hint of spiciness.
Other Ingredients – Other than the above-mentioned ingredients, you will need mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, onion, and fresh coriander.
How to make Bombay Chutney?
Mix gram flour with water and whisk to make a lump-free batter.
Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, and curry leaves and let them crackle for a few seconds.
Add onion and green chillies and cook until onion turns translucent.
Add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Now add turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and salt to taste and cook for another minute.
Add the besan mixture and cook on medium heat until the besan thickens.
Add fresh coriander and mix well. Bombay Besan Chutney is ready to serve.
Variations
There are many variations of this chutney and each home makes it differently. While I have added only tomatoes, onions, and green chilies, you can also add potatoes and yogurt.
The tomato and onion version tastes great with Dosa, Idli, while the potato and yogurt ones taste delicious when served along with hot puffed Puris.
You can also add veggies like carrot, beans, capsicum to this chutney.
You can just skip adding onions to this recipe. This Besan Chutney tastes great without onions too.
Storing Suggestions
I would suggest you make it fresh and serve. If you store it, it will become too thick and lumpy due to the use of besan or gram flour. Also, it tastes great only when it is served right out of the pan.
If for any reason you have to store it, add some water before heating it as it thicken once cooled.
Serving Suggestions
Cooked besan along with tomatoes, onions, and green chilies make anything taste better. You can serve it in many ways,
Serve this chutney along with South Indian Breakfast items such as Ghee Roast Dosa, Masala Dosa, Idli, Neer Dosa, etc.
Add yogurt to this Besan Chutney and serve it along with hot Puris, be it a simple plain Poori, Ajwain Puri, Palak Puri, or any other Puri that you like to make at home.
Also, serve this delicious chutney along with your everyday meals. It makes for a great side dish too.
Serve it along with Tawa Paratha, Laccha Paratha, or Chapati for a quick and healthy breakfast.
You might also like
Recipe Card
Bombay Chutney Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Gram Flour
- 4 cups Water
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- ¼ tsp Hing (skip for gluten free)
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 15-20 Curry Leaves
- 2-3 Green Chillies (Slit into half)
- 1 Tomato (Chopped)
- 1 Onion (thinly sliced)
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala Powder
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander (Chopped)
Instructions
- Mix gram flour with water and whisk to make a lump free batter.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves and let them crackle for a few seconds.
- Add onion and green chillies and cook until onion turns translucent.
- Add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt to taste and cook for another minute.
- Add the besan mixture and cook on medium heat until the besan thickens.
- Add fresh coriander and mix well.
- Bombay chutney is ready to serve.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!