Add to Cart: This Spicy Secret Sauce Made by a Former Hopper Joint Chef Goes With Everything

There was one big problem with the first batch of Amma’s schezwan chutney. “We had a small jar,” says founder Ronith Arlikatti. “Everyone gave the feedback that it’s not enough.” He’s since increased the size of the jar, but the recipe is the same as it has been ever since Arlikatti first developed it while working as head chef at Hopper Joint. 

Arlikatti was the opening head chef at the Prahran Sri Lankan spot owned by Jason Jones and interior designer Brahman Perera. While there, he developed a recipe for schezwan chutney, a popular Indo-Chinese condiment made from Kashmiri chilli, ginger, garlic and tomatoes.

The sauce was “developed from the memories that I have of [my grandmother’s] tomato chutneys,” Arlikatti says. With Jones and Perera’s blessing, he started packaging and selling it under the brand name Amma’s, the name he uses to address his grandmother.

Arlikatti currently works for Trader House, but his schezwan chutney is still on the Hopper Joint menu, where it comes as an accompaniment to pan rolls. The chef also recommends using it on eggs, in noodles and to amp up toasties.

Currently, Amma’s has just the one product, which Arlikatti makes from a commercial kitchen in Croydon. But he hopes to grow the business by developing a series of condiments inspired by different chefs’ memories of their ammas’ secret sauces.

Amma’s schezwan chutney is currently available to purchase from Morning Market, Hopper Joint and Maker & Monger.

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