Coconut Chutney (South Indian Nariyal Chutney)
Fresh or frozen coconut blended with green chili, ginger, and lemon, finished with a mustard, urad dal, and curry leaf tadka.
Equipment
- Blender or small mixer jar
- Small tadka pan
Ingredients
For the chutney
- 1 cup grated coconut fresh or frozen, packed
- 1 green chili stem removed
- 1 inch ginger peeled and sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/3 cup water plus more as needed
For the tadka
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon urad dal
- 1/2 teaspoon chana dal
- 6-8 curry leaves
- 1 dried red chili broken, optional
Instructions
Blend the chutney
- Add coconut, green chili, ginger, lemon juice, and salt to the blender. Do not add all the water yet.
- Pulse 8 to 10 times until the coconut looks like wet sand. Scrape the sides.
- Add 1/4 cup water. Blend to a coarse paste. Add the remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time until it drops slowly from a spoon. Taste. Add a pinch of salt or a few drops of lemon if it tastes flat.
Make the tadka
- Heat the oil in a small pan on medium. Add mustard seeds. When they pop, add urad dal and chana dal.
- Stir 20 to 30 seconds until the dals turn pale gold. Add curry leaves and the dried red chili if using. They should hiss, not blacken.
- Pour the tadka over the chutney, oil and all. Stir once. Serve right away, or rest 10 minutes so the tadka flavor moves through the bowl.
Notes
Grind coarse. A smoothie-smooth coconut chutney tastes pasty.
If the chutney tastes bitter, a thick ginger piece or chili seeds are usually why. Blend in 2 tablespoons extra coconut.
Optional body: add 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal (dalia) to the grind. I skip it when I want the coconut to stay front and center.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It thickens when cold. Loosen with a spoon of water and a squeeze of lemon before serving.
I do not freeze this one. The coconut weeps and the tadka goes stale.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!