Easy coconut chutney to accompany most south Indian breakfasts
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 red chili (broken )
- salt as needed
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 green chilies
- â¼ cup coconut (chopped fresh )
- â¼ cup coriander leaves ( or mint (optional) fresh )
- 2 tbsp fried gram ( or bhuna chana or roasted chana dal)
- â½ tsp grated ginger ((or 1 garlic clove))
- lemon juice ( or little tamarind soaked in hot wa
- â½ tsp cumin ( or jeera)
- water ( as needed)
- â¼ tsp mustard
- â¼ tsp cumin ( (optional))
- 1 pinch hing
- Carbohydrate 2.838 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.06 g
- Fiber 0.45 g
- Protein 0.6 g
- Saturated Fat 0.78318 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (36g)
- Sodium 53.7773333333333 mg
- Sugar 2.388 g
- Trans Fat 0.305639999999999 g
- Calories 65 calories
Step-by-step
- Skip this step if using lemon juice. If using tamarind, soak it in little warm water to soften.
- If using fried gram skip dry roasting channa dal. Else you will have to dry roast the chana dal till it begins to emit a aroma. Switch off the stove. Add cumin to the pan. Cool completely.
- Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth. Add tamarind water or plain water as needed.
- Heat a pan with oil Add cumin and mustard when they crackle add red chili and curry leaves. When the curry leaves turn crisp, add hing and pour this over the chatni.
- Serve coconut chutney with dosa, idli or pongal
Tempering the oil at the final stage requires precise heat control. Mustard seeds must crackle completely before adding aromatics, or the raw pungency will remain. South Indian breakfast accompaniments rely on the contrast between a cool, smooth base and a hot, aromatic oil poured over the top.
- Soak tamarind in warm water for at least 15 minutes if substituting for lemon juice, ensuring it softens enough to blend without leaving fibrous lumps.
- Dry roast raw chana dal until it emits a distinct aroma if fried gram is unavailable, taking care not to let the pulses darken past a golden hue.
- Cool the roasted spices completely before blending to prevent condensation from turning the chutney watery.
- Fry curry leaves until crisp in hot oil to release their essential oils fully into the tempering mixture.
- Add hing immediately after turning off the heat to preserve its volatile sulfur compounds from burning.
Using freshly grated coconut yields a rich, naturally emulsified texture due to intact plant fats. Packaged frozen coconut often loses moisture during storage, requiring additional water during blending to achieve a smooth consistency.
