Chutney is a condiment with many passports. In India, it's as basic as something pounded, ground, or mixed in kitchens, changing its flavour profiles with the seasons and regions. And then it travelled.
In the Caribbean, Indian migrants carried their foodways with them, and chutney became music. Bhojpuri folk traditions met calypso and soca, producing the hybrid 'chutney soca'. Trinidadian singer Drupatee Ramgoonai officially coined the term with her 1987 album Chatnee Soca. But the ball had started rolling way back in 1969 with fellow Trinidadian Sundar Popo, the 'father' of chutney music, coming up with the hit track, 'Kaise Bani', with its stirring chorus, 'Phulari bina chutney kaise bani?' (How can fritters be made without chutney?)
