May 31, 2009

Coconut chutney! My mom's way!

Every one makes it pretty much the same way. The only hitch is breaking the coconut into halves. I still haven't mastered the art. You don't need exact halves for the yummiest chutney anyway. So chill! Scraping the coconut is the other step which I'm not very fond of. It is so time consuming. The issue with coconut is, once open it won't stay fresh for long. It will spoil even if you refrigerate it. Forget freezing unless you want to make a compromise on the taste. I have a way around. Again thanks to my mom! Refrigerate the halved coconut for an hour and then it breaks away from the shell easily. It still would take you a little effort. Cut it into small pieces before you grind them.

Ingredients for the chutney
  • One medium sized coconut
  • Split roasted gram (porikadala) - 1 tbsp
  • Green chillies - 4-5 depending upon how spicy you want it to be
  • Dried red chilli - 1
  • Mustard - 1/2 tsp
  • Split urad dal - 1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaves - 3-4
  • Salt as required
  • Oil - 1 tbsp
Method
  • Grind together the scraped/cut coconut, split roasted gram, green chillies and salt with some water. Make sure it is neither too fine nor too coarse
  • Add water to ensure smooth grinding
  • Transfer the contents to a bowl
  • Heat oil, splutter the mustard, split urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves and pour over the chutney. Mix well
  • Serve with dosa, uthappam or idli
The picture above has just the mustard seasoning. You can even do without the seasoning. In some other parts of South India, they even grind some coriander leaves or ginger along. However I prefer no seasoning to the one I have described above.

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