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The delectable bottle gourd chutney is made from fresh bottle gourd, tomatoes, peanuts, green chilies, and other spices. Read my recipe to know the precise steps to make bottle gourd chutney at home.

Table of Contents

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bottle gourd chutney is a versatile and flavorful condiment.

Store the chutney in the fridge in a sealed container.
The chutney can be served with different rice dishes, Indian bread, South Indian dishes, vegetable or lentil curries, pakoras and fritters, sandwiches and wraps, chaat and street food items.
Bottle gourd chutney tastes mildly sweet, nutty, and spicy with a touch of tanginess.

Ridge gourd chutney, and pumpkin chutney offers a similar taste as bottle gourd chutney.

I found this recipe printed on a grocery bag from a local store. It seemed too simple to be exciting, but I was intrigued. I gave it a try one lazy Sunday, and what followed was magic. The dish was quick to make since the ingredients are easily available and simple to cook. The taste was so nice that my dad, who hardly appreciates my recipes, asked for a second helping. Since then, it’s become our midweek comfort food. That paper bag recipe ended up becoming one of my best finds.

How to Make Bottle Gourd Chutney? (Step by Step Guide with Images)

Step 1: Take a frying pan or wok and heat it on a low to medium flame on your gas stove. When the pan is hot enough, put 2 tbsp of white oil in it. When the oil heats up, put 2 tbsp of raw peanuts with their skin in it. Stir the peanuts continuously for a minute or two so that they are fried evenly and do not get burnt in the process. When the peanuts are fried nicely and start to change their color, add 1 tsp of coriander seeds to the pan.

(Pro tip: You can use any type of white oil you use at home to make this chutney. If you do not have the time or do not want to fry the raw peanuts, you can use the store-bought roasted variant and skip this step).

Step 2: Then add 8 to 10 pieces of large and fresh green chilies to the frying pan. Stir them for another minute or two to fry them evenly. When done, transfer these ingredients from the frying pan to a separate plate and keep it aside.

(Pro tip: For better cooking, you can break each of the green chilies into half. And, according to your preference, you can add more green chilies if you want your chutney to be spicier and less of them if you want it to be less spicy).

Step 3: Now, in the same pan and whatever oil is left in it, put 250 gm of fresh bottle gourd, cut it into small pieces. Stir them and fry them nicely on a medium flame. It will take about 3 to 4 minutes for the bottle gourd to reduce in volume and become soft, supple, juicy, and change their color slightly.

Step 4: When they do, add 2 pieces of medium-sized fresh and ripe tomatoes (cut into small pieces), 1 piece of tamarind of the size of a lemon, and salt to taste to it. Do not forget to stir them nicely for about a minute.

(Pro tip: Do not add too many tomatoes or too much tamarind. Since both are sour, it will make your chutney unnecessarily tangier).

Step 5: Now, when everything is mixed nicely with all the ingredients, cover the pan and cook them for about 5 to 6 minutes on a medium flame.

Step 6: Now, when the bottle gourd and other ingredients are cooked nicely, add ½ cup of fresh coriander leaves with their stem into the pan.

Step 7: Mix them nicely, and stir for another minute or two so that the coriander leaves are cooked nicely as well. At this point, turn off the flame of your gas stove and let the pan sit for a while so that the cooked ingredients cool down completely at room temperature.

(Pro tip: Cooling the ingredients is a step that you should not ignore. It plays a vital role in retaining the eventual color of the chutney which may be affected by the heat. For best results, transfer the ingredients to a separate plate rather than letting them in the pan. This will terminate the cooking process due to the heat of the pan and will expedite the cooling process).

Step 8: Now, take a clean grinder and first transfer the fried peanuts, green chilies, and coriander seeds along with 6 cloves of garlic and 1 tsp of cumin seeds in it.

Step 9: Grind them once into a coarse paste without adding any water to it.

Step 10: Now, add the cooked bottle gourd and other ingredients to the paste in the grinder.

Step 11: Grind everything to a fine paste.

Step 12: Check the consistency of the paste.

(Pro tip: If you feel the chutney paste is too thick, now add a little bit of water to the paste in the grinder and blend the paste again. You may continue adding water to the paste but do so gradually. Also, do not blend it for a long time. Rather blend it intermittently. This will not allow the rotating motor of the grinder to heat up the paste and eventually change the color of the chutney).

Step 13: When you get the desired texture, smoothness, and color, transfer the paste from the grinder to a bowl.

Step 14: Now, it is time to prepare the ingredients for tempering the chutney paste. Take a tadka pan, heat it on a medium flame on your gas stove, and add 2 tbsp of white oil to it when the pan is hot enough. Then add 1 tbsp of popu (a mixture of split chickpeas, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds), 2 pieces of dry red chilies torn into small pieces, and 8 to 10 pieces of fresh curry leaves to it. Stir it and let it cook for about 10 to 15 seconds.

(Pro tip: Be careful about the hot oil sprinkling all over due to the crackling mustard seeds, dry red chili seeds, and even the moisture in the fresh curry leaves).

Step 15: When the tempering ingredients are cooked nicely, transfer them immediately to the bowl containing the bottle gourd paste.

Step 16: Mix the tadka with the paste nicely and eventually you will get a tasty and spicy homemade bottle gourd chutney ready to be served with different types of dishes and snack items.