There’s nothing like coconut chutney made from freshly grated coconut! A quick internet search will tell you that the name Kerala comes from ‘Kera’ meaning coconut and ‘alam’ meaning land, essentially making this the land of coconut trees. Fittingly so, since we’re obsessed with everything coconut, we use every part of the coconut tree – the leaves, the wood, the husk, and of course, the fruit. Speaking of which, did you know that coconut is a fruit, a nut and a seed?
It’s been a year since I moved to Kerala and I’ve already forgotten that not every household shreds an entire coconut every morning! While having shredded coconut on hand definitely makes this recipe easy, you can also just cut sections of the coconut out as well. You need a good food processor/blender, and that’s about it. Blend the list of ingredients and you’re done. Add as much water as you like and serve immediately.
The Dal Situation
One thing that ALWAYS confused me with chutney was the dal situation. So there’s one dal you use while grinding the coconut and two you can use in the tadka. We grind the chutney with pottukadala or roasted chana dal/puffed chana dal. It’s not regular chana dal, it’s the dal that’s added to some chiwda mixes. When in doubt, eat a couple, roasted or puffed chana dal is edible straight out of the packet whereas the unroasted kind is too hard to eat. It’s the roasted chana dal that gives the chutney some oomph and and if you skip this, the water in the chutney will separate from the coconut.
Heat
With most chutneys, you can add heat with any type of chilli – green, dried red or red chilli powder. The red chilli powder and the dried red chilli will give you a chutney that’s a light orange or peach, whereas the green chilli will give you the classic white chutney. Each chutney varies in taste slightly so it’s a good idea to try them all out to see which one you like best.
Garlic is pretty common in Tamil Nadu and some parts of Kerala, but my family never uses garlic in chutney and I’ve sort of gotten used to that. Ginger, on the other hand, is very common.
The
The last and most important tip I’d like to leave you with is starting with cold ingredients. As I found out the hard way, when you’re using one of those steel mixers to grind chutney, they tend to heat up when they run for a while. If your jar heats up, it’ll essentially ‘cook’ your chutney, altering the taste. If that does happen, you may not be able to eat it raw, but no need to waste it, just use it to make a curry!
So here it is! A basic coconut chutney! Try it out with Godhambu Dosa!
Coconut Chutney
Equipment
- Food Processor/Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup Grated Coconut
- 1 ½ Tbsp Puffed Chana Dal
- 1 tsp Chilli Powder or 1 green chilli
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Water
Optional
- ¼ inch Piece of Ginger
Tadka
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- ½ tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves roughly chopped
- ½ tsp Split Urad Dal
Instructions
- Add the coconut, chana dal, green chilli/chilli powder and salt to a food processor along with ½ cup of water and mix for about 30 seconds.
- Add another ½ cup of water, or more, till you reach your desired consistency.
- Transfer to a bowl.
- Add the coconut oil to a small pan over medium heat.
- Once heated, add the mustard seeds and urad dal.
- Once the seeds start to pop, take the pan off the heat and add your curry leaves.
- Add the tempering to your chutney and mix well.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- You can process the chutney for longer if you’re after a smoother texture. I prefer coarsely ground chutney so I find that 30 seconds works well.
- There’s no real measurement for water, it’s completely up to you!
- If you like crunchy curry leaves like I do, you can leave the curry leaves in the hot oil for about 30 seconds before you add the tempering to the chutney.
