Chutney is an English version of the Hindi word 'chatni', pronounced as chutni. The word 'chatna' means 'to lick' and represents the lip-smacking sound made on eating something tasty. he original Indian chatni is a mix of uncooked fruit (raw mango/apple/other fruit), green chillies, herbs like coriander and mint, a few spices, lemon or vinegar or tamarind, sometimes sugar, all ground together to make a paste. In Britain and the West this original idea was adapted to mean a spicy preserve/condiment, where fruit or vegetables have been cooked in vinegar, with spices and sugar, and then bottled. British influence introduced chutneys to the Caribbean.

In 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 South India, Chutneys are also known as Pachadi (Telugu: పచ్చడి, Kannada: ಪಚಡಿ, Tamil: பச்சடி, Malayalam: പച്ചടി, Marathi: पचडी) which generally refers to traditional South Indian sauces or chutneys served as side dishes. Roughly translated, it refers to a plant which has been pounded or crushed. Pachadis are made of fresh vegetables and are served on the side for dishes like idli, dosa, and pesarattu. Many kinds of vegetables are included. Sometimes the rind of a vegetable is used, such as the peel of the ridged gourd, known as beerapottu pachadi in Telugu. In Tamil Nadu, thogayal or thuvayal (Tamil) are preparations similar to chutney but with a pasty consistency. In Kerala it is also called chammanthi and in Telangana it is called tokku or also pacchadi. Thengai chutney, a coconut-based chutney, is the one being referred to when only 'chutney' is said.

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 labour-saving alternatives to the stone grinding technique. Spices commonly used in chutneys include fenugreek, coriander (also called cilantro), cumin, and asafoetida (hing). Other prominent ingredients and combinations include coriander, capsicum, mint (coriander and mint chutneys are often called हरा hara chutney, Hindi for "green"), Tamarind or imli (often called meethi chutney, as मिठाई meethi in Hindi means "sweet"), sooth (or saunth, made with dates and ginger), coconut, onion, prune, tomato, red chili, green chili, mango, lime (made from whole, unripe limes), garlic, coconut, peanut, dahi (yogurt), green tomato, dhaniya pudina (coriander (cilantro) and mint), peanut (shengdana chutney in Marathi), ginger, red chili powder, tomato onion chutney, coriander (cilantro), mint coconut chutney, and apricot.

In the early 17th century, officials of the East India Company on the Indian subcontinent subsisted on preserved foodstuffs such as lime pickles, chutneys and marmalades. Beginning in the 17th century, fruit chutneys were shipped to various European countries as luxury goods. These imitations were called "mangoed" fruit or vegetables, the word 'chutney' being associated with the working class in these countries. As greater imports of foreign and varied foods increased into northern Europe, chutney fell out of favour in Britain. This combined with a greater ability to refrigerate fresh foods and an increasing number of glasshouses meant the British consumption of chutney and pickle was relegated to army usage and individuals residing in colonial India. Chutney resurged in popularity in England around the 1780s as a starter. Western-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. Western-style chutneys originated from Anglo-Indians at the time of the British Raj. They recreated Indian chutneys using English orchard fruit — cooking apples and rhubarb, for example. They would often contain dried fruit: raisins, currants, and sultanas. However, vegetable-based chutneys like piccalilli remain popular and are commercially available. Indeed, Hannah Glasse's recipe for paco lilla is one of the first chutney recipes in English (Glasse o Make Paco Lilla or Indian Pickle).