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South Indian · Indian

Ulli chammanthi (Kerala shallot chutney)

Vegetarian

ഉള്ളി ചമ്മന്തി · uḷḷi cammanti

Small shallots crushed with flame-roasted dried red chillies, tamarind, curry leaves and salt, then glossed with raw coconut oil. A fierce, coconut-free chammanthi traditionally ground on a grinding stone and eaten with rice gruel (kanji), tapioca and rice.

Ulli chammanthi (Kerala shallot chutney) is a South Indian condiment, ready in about 15 minutes and made with shallot, dried whole chillies and coconut oil. It serves 4 and is rated beginner to cook.

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Prep
12 min
Cook
3 min
Total
15 min
Serves
4
Level
Beginner
Calories
55

Ingredients

4 servings (about 30 g)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Peel the shallots (opens in a new tab) (soak them in warm water for 10 minutes first to loosen the skins) and pick the seeds out of the tamarind (opens in a new tab).

    • 10 min

  2. Step 2

    Hold the dried chillies with tongs (opens in a new tab) over a low gas flame, or toast them in a dry pan over medium heat, turning, for 1–2 minutes until crisp, puffed and lightly blackened in spots. Toast the curry leaves (opens in a new tab) for a few seconds until crisp.

    Food safety: Roasting chillies over a flame produces pungent smoke; work under a hood or by an open window.

  3. Step 3

    Crush the roasted chillies with the salt in a mortar (or the small jar of a blender (opens in a new tab)) to coarse flakes. Add the tamarind (opens in a new tab) and curry leaves (opens in a new tab) and pound, then add the shallots (opens in a new tab) and pound or pulse (no water) to a coarse, juicy paste. The texture should be rough, not smooth.

    Spices being ground in a mortar and pestle
    How it looks · Photo: https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels

  4. Step 4

    Pour over the raw coconut oil (opens in a new tab) and mix it in with a spoon (or, as in Kerala homes, with your fingers). Taste and add salt.

    • 1 min

About this dish

Origin
Kerala, India · Commonly attributedA traditional Kerala home chammanthi; recipes agree on shallot, chilli, tamarind and raw coconut oil.More food from India
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Breakfast · Condiments, chutneys & relishes
Cooking method
Grilled, Raw
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), smoky, tangy, savoury
Diet
Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsVegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Everyday · Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Shallot · Dried whole chillies · Coconut oil · Tamarind · Curry leaves
Techniques
Grilling · Charcoal grilling

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

55 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 31 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 6%
  • Carbohydrate 39%
  • Fat 56%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy55 kcal177 kcal
Protein0.8 g2.7 g
Carbohydrate5.6 g17.9 g
Net carbohydrate4.4 g14.1 g
Sugars2.4 g7.5 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre1.2 g3.8 g
Fat3.6 g11.4 g
Saturated fat2.9 g9.2 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium295 mg943 mg
Salt equivalent0.7 g2.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
126 mg
Calcium
11 mg
Iron
0.5 mg
Magnesium
8 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
15 µg
Vitamin C
2 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
10 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): curry leaves.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Shallots are essential; large onions turn watery and harsh.
  • The raw coconut oil is not a garnish — it rounds off the heat and gives the chammanthi its Kerala flavour.

Common mistakes

  • Adding water to help the grinder, which makes it thin and sharp.
  • Burning the chillies to ash rather than just spotting them black.

Serve with

  • Serve with kanji (rice gruel) and cherupayar (moong) curry, or with boiled kappa (tapioca).
  • Good with puttu, dosa, appam or plain Kerala matta rice.

Food safety

  • Raw ground shallots spoil quickly at room temperature; refrigerate leftovers.

Storage

  • Best the same day; keeps 2 days in the fridge.

Variations

  • Kanthari chammanthi: Uses fresh kanthari (bird's-eye) chillies instead of dried, for a very hot green chammanthi.
  • Ulli thenga chammanthi: Adds 50 g grated coconut — this becomes close to thenga chammanthi.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Goes with

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

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Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

  • Shallot, peeled; about 12–15 small shallots (chuvannulli)100 g
  • Tamarind, seedless; a small grape-sized piece, fibres removed4 g
Used in steps 1, 3

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

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