When it comes to South Indian cuisine, coconut chutney is one of the most common things available. It is served with snacks and breakfast. Some of the most popular dishes like Uttapam, Dosa, and Idli require coconut chutney as sides. It is a classic recipe that uses spices with proper tempering to get that unique flavor. As it is a popular dish, you might be looking forward to making it at home.
However, before we jump into finding the coconut chutney recipe, let us find out some more details about this chutney.
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What do you mean by coconut chutney?
Chutneys are very popular in India, and condiments originated from this land. It generally includes mixing several ingredients to get a unique taste. Not only can you find coconut chutney, but also there are several other chutneys made from different ingredients like onion, peanuts, coriander, and others. However, these are the main ingredients as it also includes several other components to make a savory sauce that can be used throughout.
This chutney originated in South India and is famous for this cuisine. You will mostly find grounded coconuts with the addition of several other ingredients to create the mixture. Chilies and spices are added to the chutney to get the heat, along with ginger and garlic for the savory depth. It is tampered with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and Hing to get the unique flavor.
A simple coconut chutney recipe:
Grind all the ingredients:
- Use grated coconuts and add half a cup of grated coconut to the grinding jar.
- Add two chopped chilies, 2 spoons of chana dal that is properly roasted, and a half inch of ginger finely chopped.
- Add salt, but make sure to use less amount and keep adding after tasting.
- Add water while grinding to make a thick consistency.
- Keep grinding until it attains a smooth texture. If it is too thick, you can add a little bit of water.
- Take a spoon and remove this chutney into a bowl. Now taste it and find out if it requires salt.
Temper the coconut chutney:
- Now you need to take a pan and add a little bit of oil to it. Maintain a low heat.
- Now add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds and wait for them to crackle.
- Once you find the mustard seeds crackling, add half a teaspoon of urad dal.
- Now add whole cumin seeds. However, you can skip this step if you are not a fan of cumin seeds.
- Keep the flame low and continuously stir the whole spices.
- Once you find the pulse getting golden and cumin seeds crackling, it is time to add curry leaves and Hing to it. You can also switch off the flame if the oil is too hot.
- Fry all of them for a few seconds until the curry leaves become crisp.
- Take out the entire mixture into another bowl where you have kept the chutney.
- Mix all of them properly.
This is one of the easiest preparations for a coconut chutney recipe that anyone can make in the comfort of their home.
Variations of coconut chutney recipe:
You can find a huge range of coconut chutneys available in the market. The chutney preparation is different, which leads to making them taste different. Some of the most common ingredients that are used as an extra are coriander leaves, fresh mint leaves, tamarind, curd, tomatoes, garlic, almonds, beetroot, onions, carrots, unripe mangoes, and other greens like spinach.
When you add ingredients according to your choice, it gives a unique taste to this recipe. Just like adding tomatoes and tamarind will give it a sour taste, adding fresh herbs like coriander or mint will give it a fresh flavor. The ultimate product will be delicious according to your choice.
Conclusion:
This is everything that you need to know about coconut chutney. Whether you live in South India or you are primarily attracted to South Indian foods, having this coconut chutney recipe will make it easy for you to enjoy the regular dishes. Remember that you will not be able to enjoy the authentic flavor of South Indian cuisine unless you have the best chutney prepared according to your needs.
So, now you can easily serve onion pakora, Upama, Pongal, Idli, and Dosa to your family and guests with your home-prepared coconut Chutney.
