Coconut Coriander Chutney 5/5 (1)

Chutney is an accompaniment or side dish for the starters or for the south Indian tiffins and snacks. They are made of coconut or veggies or herbs as the base, ground with spices and salt, then tempered with condiments. Tadka/tempering is optional. The shelf life of a few chutneys is long while a few are short depending upon the ingredients and processes involved.

It’s an absolutely zero cooking recipe. As tempering is optional, the recipe contains just grinding of all the ingredients in a go. Also, it can be prepared in a jiffy. You can exclude the coriander and make simple coconut chutney with the same ingredients but with less green chillies. 

This recipe is a typical South Indian, coconut chutney with an additional ingredient that will change the colour and taste of the chutney. You can do a lot of variation by including mint, beetroot, carrot, ginger. Each ingredient imparts a unique flavour. 

The shelf life of this chutney is short, maybe a few hours after grinding because it has coconut and it’s uncooked.

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Grate the coconut or finely chop the coconut, if you are using frozen grated coconut defrost it and use hot water while grinding. (Refer Notes). Add chopped ginger, chopped green chillies along with a small marble piece of tamarind to the mixer and run it for a while.

Then add coriander and run it.

If it’s not grinding, add a tbsp of water and grind again to a paste.

Now add grated coconut, salt, and dry grind it. 

Finally, add roasted/fried gram (pottukadalai) and grind it.

Add 1-2 tbsp of water to grind it.

Transfer this to a serving bowl. You can adjust the water accordingly to thick or thin out the chutney. For tempering/tadka, add a tbsp of coconut oil.

Then add mustard seeds, after it crackles, add split urid dal and cumin seeds.

Later add curry leaves. Switch off the flame. Then add asafoetida/ hing powder.

Finally, add this tempering/tadka to the bowl of chutney. Aromatic Coconut coriander chutney is ready to serve with idli, dosas, upma.

Here I served with Thinai pongal along with Medhu vada, Onion Chutney and Restaurant Tiffin sambar/Araicchuvitta sambar.

Recipe card

Preparation time – 3 minutes

Cooking time – less than a minute (for tempering)

Cuisine – South Indian 

Category – Chutneys

Serves – 4

Author – Manimala 

Ingredients:

For chutney:

Grated coconut – 1 cup 

Roasted/ fried gram/ pottukadalai – 3 tbsp

Coriander – 1 cup

Chopped ginger – 1 tsp

Green chilli – 3

Tamarind – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

For tempering:

Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Split urid dal – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp 

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Asafoetida/ hing powder – ¼ tsp

Instructions:

1. Grate the coconut or finely chop the coconut, if you are using frozen grated coconut defrost it and use hot water while grinding. (Refer Notes).
2. Add chopped ginger, chopped green chillies along with a small marble piece of tamarind to the mixer and run it for a while.
3. Then add coriander and run it. If it’s not grinding, add a tbsp of water and grind again to a paste.
4. Now add grated coconut, salt, and dry grind it. 
5. Finally, add roasted/fried gram (pottukadalai) and grind it. Add 1-2 tbsp of water to grind it.
6. Transfer this to a serving bowl. You can adjust the water accordingly to thick or thin out the chutney. For tempering/tadka, add a tbsp of coconut oil, then add mustard seeds.
7. After it crackles, add split urid dal and cumin seeds, later add curry leaves. Switch off the flame. Then add asafoetida/ hing powder.
8. Finally, add this tempering/tadka to the bowl of chutney.
9. Aromatic Coconut coriander chutney is ready to serve with idli, dosas, upma. Here I served withThinai pongal along with Medhu vada, Onion Chutney and Restaurant Tiffin sambar/Araicchuvitta sambar.

Notes:

• As I mentioned above, coconut can be grated or chopped. But freshly grated coconut is the best choice. 
• Still, you can use store bought frozen grated coconut. But use hot water while grinding. If you use normal water, the fat will separate and you’ll get a heterogeneous mixture. 
• You can make the chutney thick or thin according to your requirement by adjusting the water.
• This chutney has to be consumed within a few hours as it has a poor shelf life. If you want it to use later, maybe in the evening or the next day, store it in the refrigerator immediately after you grind. You cannot reheat the chutney, keep it some time out at room temperature, then dilute it with hot water to consume. Always try to eat fresh.
• It can be prepared in a jiffy, absolutely no cooking except the tempering which is optional.
• Tempering,  I used coconut oil, you can use any oil, I preferred this as it’s a coconut-based chutney, this oil complement well with it.
• If kids don’t consume curry leaves used in the tempering, you grind it along with the chutney, so they don’t miss out on the nutrients. 

Now time for my Kitchen secret...😉😍 

This section of the recipe is my favourite part. You can unfurl your creativity in the kitchen with no limitations. You can alter, amend, and play with the ingredients beyond imagination. Absolutely there are no hard and fast rules.

This chutney can be transferred into various versions. It can be a simple coconut chutney with the same recipe excluding coriander. You can transfer into coconut mint chutney by replacing coriander with mint. Also, try the same with curry leaves as well. These are herbs variations.

Now we’ll play with veggies…😋😋. 🥕🥕 chutney can be prepared similarly by substituting carrots with coriander. Beetroot chutney with Beetroot in the place of coriander. You can prepare another version of Beetroot chutney, which I’ll post in near future.

It’s bliss for the moms who struggle with their fussy eaters at home. It’s so colourful and inviting, kids who agitate to take veggies, wouldn’t mind eating these chutneys. Yeah, kill two birds with one stone…exciting!!!