Sri Lankan date and lime chutney.
A spoonful of this lip-smacking sweet chutney is always a welcome addition to your meals.
I’ve been known to finish a bottle of this date-and-lime chutney within a few days.

Updated the recipe post in October 2025 to include more tips and a video.

Gift a bottle of Date and lime chutney.

Dates, Sri Lankan preserved limes(lunu dehi), and raisins make up most of the flavours in this chutney.
Once the chutney is done, you’ll notice the rich, dark, ruby red colour, which is a combination of all the ingredients coming together to make one of the most delicious sweet and spicy(with a bit of sourness from the limes) chutneys you’ll ever taste.
The perfect homemade gift for any festive occasion.
Now that you have the recipe for the chutney, make a few bottles ahead and gift them to your loved ones over the festive season(Sinhala-Tamil New Year, Eid, Christmas).
Take bottles as a housewarming gift or take a few for your loved ones living overseas.
They’ll love and appreciate the thoughtful gift as it’s homemade with a lot of love.

Recipe summary at a glance.

• Serving size for 5 to 6 people.
• Prep time is 30 minutes, including deseeding seeds from the dates.
• Cooking time is 30 to 45 minutes.
• Cooking method- stove top
• Cooking difficulty- easy
• Access to ingredients- available at Asian and Sri Lankan stores.
• Flavour profile- sweet, tangy and spicy.

The ingredients list for date and lime chutney.

• Mustard seeds are soaked to blend. You can use mustard powder if available.
• Minced Garlic.
• Minced ginger.
• Coconut vinegar or white vinegar.
• Red chilli powder increases or decreases as per your need.
• Sugar, you can use a natural sweetener like jaggery.
• Dates- seeds removed.
• Sri Lankan pickled lime(also known as lunu dehi in Sinhalese).
• Raisins are soaked in water to turn them plump and easy to crush.
• Water as needed.

What to serve with date and lime chutney.

• It’s a great addition to your cheeseboard, grilled meats with wraps.
• Serve with samosas, fish cutlets and Sri Lankan fish rolls, kebabs.
• Add a dollop(not too much)to your hot dog or burger to give them an Asian twist.
• Top a roast paan(bread)with seeni sambol or coconut sambol and add a little of this date and lime chutney.
• Serve date and lime chutney with any type of Biryani.
  • egg biryani (one-pot rice dish/stove-top)
  • chicken biryani(Hyderabadi).
  • Chicken Pot Biryani.
• Serve with a  Sri Lankan rice and curry menu. Here are some menus you can try.
  • Yellow rice, slow-cooked beef curry, potato curry, spicy green beans stir fry(bonchi thel dala). and this sweet date chutney.
  • Coconut rice, dhal curry, spicy devilled potato, gotu kola sambol, beetroot curry, kalupol-Sri Lankan chicken curry(spicy black chicken curry). and date chutney.

Tips, Faq’s and variations in date and lime chutney.

• Tips
  • Use soft dates that break down easily.
  • Constantly taste and balance the flavours of the chutney.
  • Simmer in low heat so the date chutney cooks evenly and combines flavours.
  • Store the date chutney properly in air-tight glass jars for a longer shelf life.
• Questions’s.
  • What type of dates should I use for the chutney?
    • There are various types of dates in the market, under different brands.
    • For the chutney, make sure you choose dates that are soft and will break down easily as they cook.
    • Avoid using extremely dry dates, as they need to be soaked overnight.
  • Is the lime pickle you use for the recipe the same as a lemon preserve?
    • The Sri Lankan lime pickle we use for this chutney is different from the preserved lemon.
    • I would advise you not to replace the lime pickle(lunu dehi)with any type of lemon preserves.
    • Although not the same, you can use Indian pickle as a substitute, but there might be a slight change in taste.
  • Workflow to make Sri Lankan date chutney.
    • Soak mustard overnight.
    • deseed dates.
    • heat, spice and sugar.
    • Combine all ingredients and slow cook.
  • Variations.
    • Date and tamarind chutney. Substitute lime with tamarind pulp.
    • Date, pineapple and green chilli chutney.

More chutney recipes.

Sweet and sour sauce with Pineapple.
Spicy BBQ sauce(barbecue sauce).
Pineapple chutney(Sri Lankan).
Tomatoes with dates and green chilli chutney

What you will need in the kitchen.

• Medium-sized non-stick pot.
• 2 medium-sized bowls.
• An air-tight container or jar with a tight lid to store the chutney.

step-by-step photo tutorial

Preparation for making the date and lime chutney.

Have all the ingredients prepped and ready. Remove the dates’ seeds and set them aside.

Mustard seeds.
Soak mustard seeds overnight in 1/4 cup of vinegar(out of the vinegar volume mentioned in the ingredient under vinegar).
Half an hour before making the chutney, blend the mustard (including the vinegar in which the mustard seeds were soaking).
If you are using mustard powder, mix the mustard powder with 1/4 cup of vinegar.

Mix in the ginger and garlic into the mustard paste.

Raisins.
Soak the raisins in half a cup of water for 3 to 4 hours or until they are plump; this would make them easy to crush with a spoon.

Sri Lanka Pickled lime(lunu dehi).
Cut the Sri Lankan Lime (lunu dehi) into small strips and set them aside. Remove all the seeds from the lime pickle.
If there are any seeds, then your chutney will become bitter, so make sure to remove all the seeds.

How to make the date and lime chutney.

Place a cooking pan over very low heat and add the mustard, ginger, and garlic paste to the cooking pan.

Pour the vinegar into the clay pot, and maintain very low heat.

Add the red chilli powder, sugar, and stir to dissolve over low fire.

Season with salt.

Add the dates, lime, and raisins(including the water the raisins were soaking in)into the pan and bring them to a boil within a few minutes.

Once boiled, immediately reduce and slow-simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the chutney thickens.

As the chutney reduces and thickens. Make sure to constantly stir to avoid the chutney sticking to the bottom of the cooking pan.

using a wooden spoon, constantly break down the dates, lime and raisins into smaller pieces until it reaches a smooth consistency.

Always taste the chutney to balance the flavours.
If you find using a spoon hard, use a blender to blitz the date and lime chutney for a smoother texture.

Once the chutney is done, remove the pan from the fire, let the chutney completely cool, and then transfer the chutney into dry bottles and refrigerate.

Storage, freezing and reheating.

• Storage.
  • Once the chutney is completely cool, transfer it to a dry, air-tight container.
  • Keep refrigerated and use a dry spoon.
• Freezing.
  • Can be frozen in zip-lock bags and used as needed. can be frozen up to 3 months.

Join me on ISLANDSMILE YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Visit the SEAFOOD BLOG.

With you in mind, each recipe on this blog has been written with great care and love to the best of my ability.
It’s free and available on the blog for you to try at any time.
All I ask is that you refrain from saving it on any apps, recipe boxes, or online groups, as this will affect me as a food blogger and the growth of this blog.
I would appreciate it if you only shared the link rather than the full recipe.
All images and text on this website are protected by copyright.