What is coconut chutney?
Coconut chutney is a famous yet simple South Indian condiment made with grated coconut and a mix of fresh spices and herbs. Coconut, fried gram, ginger/garlic, and chilies are ground together, and then some oil tempered with red chili, mustard seeds, and curry leaves is drizzled on top to get this amazingly flavourful chutney.
Coconut chutney goes great with dosa, uttapam, vadas, but I like to serve it with savory oatmeal pancakes or even omelets.
Kinds of coconut chutney
The recipe I am sharing today is basic coconut chutney, except it has been tempered twice to get a more spicy and flavorful chutney. You can add a variety of ingredients to the basic coconut chutney to get a variety of flavorful coconut chutneys. Add a handful of mint leaves and coriander/cilantro leaves and a few green chilies to get a green coconut chutney. Add a few whole dried red chilies to get a red and spicy coconut chutney. You can even add tomatoes to get a red and sweetish coconut chutney. You can go crazy with the flavors!
Storing coconut chutney
Coconut goes bad if left outside for too long. It is best to refrigerate coconut chutney after making it. If stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, it can stay fresh up to 2-3 days. Adding tamarind to coconut chutney will add a couple more days to its shelf-life.
How to make coconut chutney?
- Dry roast 2 tablespoons Bengal gram or chana dal.
- Put a cup of freshly grated or frozen grated coconut and the Bengal gram in a grinder.
- Add 1 clove of garlic and 1/4 of an inch of ginger to the coconut.
- Add 2 green chilies. Salt and water depending on the consistency you want.
- A lot of recipes will ask for cumin seeds, but I don’t use it. But feel free to add it if you like.
- Heat 2 teaspoons oil and add 2 broken dried red chilies, 1 spring of curry leaves, 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, and a pinch of asafoetida. When they start to splatter, transfer half of it to the coconut and grind everything together
- Transfer the coconut paste to a bowl and add the remaining tempered oil while it is still hot.
Coconut chutney
Equipment
- Grinder
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 2 tbsp Bengal gram or chana dal
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 inch ginger
- 2 slit green chilies
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 whole dry red chilies
- 1 pinch asafoetida
- salt to taste
- 1 spring curry leaves
Instructions
- Dry roast Bengal gram for a minute.
- Heat oil and temper with mustard seeds, whole dry red chilies, asafoetida and curry leaves.
- In a grinder, blend coconut, gram, half of the tempered oil and spices, ginger, garlic, green chilies, and salt. Add water depending on the consistency you want.
- Transfer to a bowl, add the remaining tempered oil and spices and mix.
- Serve with idli, dosa, or vada.
Nutrition
If you like this recipe, please leave a comment and don’t forget to connect with me on Instagram and Facebook to never miss a recipe update or chitchat. 
Dhrubaa Mukherjee--An academic by profession, a contributor to Huffington Post, a dancer by passion, a compulsive foodie, a former flight attendant, and a constant traveler, I am, what they call, a transnational gourmand (gourmet?). I am not only fascinated by the tastes, colors, textures and aromas of food, I am equally intrigued by the histories, traditions and cultural inter-junctions that drive/influence recipes.
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