Difference between tzatziki and Indian mint dip (mint chutney?)

Question

What is the difference between a tzatziki dip and an Indian mint dip? Aren't both just yogurt and mint? Or o is the difference that tzatziki also has some cucumber in it? Also, while tzatziki looks predominantly white Indian mint dips are green throughout, so do the latter have some natural color. What's the difference between how these two dips are prepared?

EDIT: I'm talking about the dip on the left in the picture below (which is served in many Indian restaurants with papadums as a starter dish). From the Wikipedia entry for chutney, a chutney may be a yoghurt, cucumber, and mint dip (is this what this is?).

Just for the reference, here is a tzatziki sauce I've made:

So pardon my ignorance, but why is a tzatziki not a chutney? Anyways, I want to know what this papadum appetizer dip is called and how to make it. That should make my question clear enough. Thanks.

And also, what is the difference between a chutney and a relish?

Answer 1

As far as I'm aware, the traditional Greek tzatziki doesn't generally include mint at all.

It's a cucumber dip that is made of yogurt and sometimes includes dill or mint as a flavoring:

Tzatziki (Anglicized: /tsɑːtˈsiːki/ }; Greek: τζατζίκι [dzaˈdzici] or [dʒaˈdʒici]) is a Greek sauce served with grilled meats or as a dip. Tzatziki is made of strained yogurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sometimes dill. American versions may include lemon juice, mint, or parsley.

The main ingredients in all of the recipes I've looked at in researching this, are yogurt and cucumber and the flavorings are usually dill but occasionally either dill or mint. The Indian mint dip doesn't ever contain cucumber, as far as I know.

So, no I don't think they're similar products at all, mostly because tzatziki isn't "mint sauce" it's "cucumber sauce" that may happen to include mint.

Answer 2

Mint chutney is normally almost all herbs (mint and cilantro), and it's ground/blended so it's completely green:

(from this mint chutney recipe)

I can't really see the chutney/dip in your picture that well. You say it was mint and yogurt, and it looks like it might be pale green, so I'd guess it just had overall more yogurt than usual. But as long as it's got a lot of mint and it's blended, it's going to be green. (And yes, it's a chutney: it was served at an Indian restaurant with papadums.)

If you want to make it, you can find a million recipes by searching for "mint chutney" recipe.

Your tzatziki, on the other hand, is mostly made of yogurt, with a relatively small amount of herbs, and they're just chopped, so the color doesn't spread. As Catija points out, it doesn't necessarily even have mint at all. It's not a chutney because it's not Indian:

Chutney (...) is a side dish in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent that can vary from a tomato relish to a ground peanut garnish or a yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip.

The two are similar in that they share one or two ingredients, but the relative quantities are completely different, and the additional ingredients are different.