21 July,2023 09:24 AM IST | Mumbai | Phorum Pandya
(From left) Mint, mushroom and tomato chutney
In 2014, Prasanna Natarajan began to think of finding a solution to provide fresh chutney ready to serve at breakfast for his kids. "An important side condiment in Indian cuisine, chutney is devoured in all parts of the country, and takes some effort to prepare," says Natarajan, CEO and co-founder of Chutneyfy that took shape in 2021.
Along with co-founder and COO Shreyas Raghav, and CMO Prem K Viswanath, Natarajan set up a lab in Chennai, and invited onboard chefs and food scientists to research and identify gaps in the market. "To make chutney, you need a list of ingredients which you need to roast, sauté, grind and wash. It is extremely time consuming. We prepared a formula of ready-to-eat chutney that would only need water and a good mix from the consumer's end.
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"These packets are 100 per cent plant-based and travel friendly, with no preservatives or added colour," he explains. So far, they have introduced 10 different varieties, including curry leaf, peanut, beetroot, mushroom and black garlic, tomato, mint chutney, with more being added to the kitty.
We anonymously order four chutneys along with two packs of mini khakras (R60) to try. Each box comes with a sealed container that has the dehydrated chutney mix. The container has enough room to pour the measurement of water recommended on each pack. So we don't need any extra utensils.
To 40 gm of Andhra-style peanut chutney (R55), we add 100 ml water and mix well. We give it a watery consistency to go well with steam idli. Sweet, sour and spicy, it has garlic, onions, red chillies, urad dal, tamarind, curry leaves, mustard seeds and the earthiness of hing. It hits all the marks and we wouldn't have guessed it was a packet version of chutney. For those who want their chutney sans the sil bhatta, this is your answer.
We have a confession to make - for some of the mixes, we add water âandaze se', and turns out, it can be tweaked to personal preference of consistency. But we must remind you to ensure that you mix it well, as there could be dry lumps if you don't follow instructions to the T. This proves they have done their R&D well.
Our favourite turns out to be the mushroom and black garlic chutney (R95). To 25 gm, we add 100 ml water. The dark brown powder has a Chettinad-style roasted masala with mushrooms, tomatoes, cashew nuts, tamarind, sesame oil, star anise, pepper, kapok buds, coriander seeds, cloves and turmeric. This one is punchy, and we see ourselves devouring it with dosa, sourdough and maybe even add it to our aglio olio.
The mint chutney is a match made in heaven for our Bombay sandwich or North Indian parathas and contains coriander leaves, mint leaves, raw mangoes, jaggery, Bengal gram, green chillies, garlic lemon, tamarind, ginger, cumin seeds, chaat masala powder and rock salt. To 30 gm, we add 90 ml water. We find this to be bolder and saltier than the other options.
Last but not the least - we try tomato chutney (R55), which has a crumbly texture from toor, urad dal and Bengal gram, made in refined sunflower oil. It has a well-rounded taste from jaggery cumin seeds, chillies, coriander powder, hing, and turmeric. This one is Jain diet-friendly, and has no onion or garlic.
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4/4 Exceptional, 3/4 Excellent, 2/4 very Good, 1/4 Good, 0.4/4 Average. Chutneyfy didn't know we ordered from there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals
