Chutney is a sauce or a dry base for a sauce, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used with the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, that can include such forms as a spicy coconut dip, a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish or a dahi (yogurt), cucumber, and mint dip.

An offshoot that took root in Anglo-Indian cuisine is usually a tart fruit such as sharp apples, rhubarb or damson pickle made milder by an equal weight of sugar (usually demerara or brown sugar to replace jaggery in some Indian sweet chutneys). Vinegar was added to the recipe for English-style chutney that traditionally aims to give a long shelf life so that autumn fruit can be preserved for use throughout the year (as are jams, jellies and pickles) or else to be sold as a commercial product. Indian pickles use mustard oil as a pickling agent, but Anglo-Indian style chutney uses malt or cider vinegar which produces a milder product that in western cuisine is often eaten with a hard cheese or with cold meats and fowl, typically in cold pub lunches.

Nowadays, the making of some pickles and chutneys in India has been passed over to commercial production, whereas at one time it was done entirely in people's homes. The disadvantage of commercial chutneys and those produced in western style with vinegar and large amounts of sugar is that the main aim of sugar and vinegar as preservatives is to make the product safe for long-term consumption. Regular consumption of these products (as distinct from the original Indian array of fresh relishes) can add to total sugar consumption being increased to unhealthy levels.

The word "chutney" is derived from the Hindi word चटनी chaṭnī, meaning to lick. In India, "chutney" refers to fresh and pickled preparations indiscriminately. Several Indian languages use the word for fresh preparations only. A different word achār (Hindi: अचार) applies to pickles that often contain oil and are rarely sweet.

In Pakistan and India, chutneys can be either made alongside pickles that are matured in the sun for up to two weeks and kept up to a year or, more commonly, are freshly made from fresh ingredients that can be kept a couple of days or a week in the refrigerator.

In Tamil Nadu, thogayal or thuvayal (Tamil) are preparations similar to chutney but with a pasty consistency. In Andhra Pradesh it is also called roti pacchadi. In Telangana the same are called tokku.

Medicinal plants that are believed to have a beneficial effect are sometimes made into chutneys, for example Pirandai Thuvayal[4] or ridged gourd chutney (Peerkangai Thuvayal or beerakaaya tokku).[5] Ridged gourd can be bought in Chinese and Indian shops in large towns in the west[6] and, when dried, becomes a bath sponge known as a luffa or loofah.

Bitter gourd can also serve as a base for a chutney which is like a relish or, alternatively as a dried powder.

Occasionally, chutneys that contrast in taste and colour can be served together—a favourite combination being a green mint and chili chutney with a contrasting sweet brown tamarind and date chutney.

Chutneys may be ground with a mortar and pestle or an ammikkal (Tamil). Spices are added and ground, usually in a particular order; the wet paste thus made is sautéed in vegetable oil, usually gingelly (sesame) or peanut oil. Electric blenders or food processors can be used as labor-saving alternatives to stone grinding.

American and European-style chutneys are usually fruit, vinegar, and sugar cooked down to a reduction, with added flavourings. These may include sugar, salt, garlic, tamarind, onion or ginger.[14] Western-style chutneys originated from Anglo-Indians at the time of the British Raj recreated Indian chutneys using English orchard fruits—sour cooking apples and rhubarb, for example. They would often contain dried fruit: raisins, currants, and sultanas.