Chutney refers to a number of sauces native to the Indian subcontinent, forming an integral part of the Indian cuisines. Chutneys are made from fruits, vegetables, herbs, sugar, spices etc. It provides balance to an array of dishes to make it taste better and elevate the overall flavor profile.

If you are from Northern region of India, first thing comes to your mind when someone says Chutney is Spicy, tangy Coriander and Mint Chutney or Tamarind chutney, whereas Southern region uses Coconut chutney in most of the dishes, Raw papaya chutney (Plastic chutney – due to its texture as melted plastic) from Bengal region, Gongura Pachadi from Andhra region, Xukan Machor Chutney from Eastern region, to name a few.

We bring you Coconut Chutney recipe which goes well with many dishes. It is great for weight loss and improving cholesterol level.

Health Benefits

• Coconut is made up of a high amount of saturated fats which are harmless to health. 
• Coconut is high in fiber content which reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
• Coconut slows down the increase of blood sugar in the body and helps diabetic people in controlling diabetes.
• The ketones in the coconut oils metabolize the fatty acids and curb your food cravings thus helping you get rid of the stubborn belly fat.
• Curry leaves are good for weight loss, treating dysentery, constipation, diarrhea and improves eye sight.

Ingredients

Coconut Chutney Base

• 1 – 1.5 cup fresh coconut, roughly chopped with brown skin removed
• 2 tablespoon Ginger, roughly chopped
• 4 green Chilies, chopped
• 1/4 cup roasted Chana (or powdered)
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup water (room temperature)

For Tempering

• 1 teaspoon Oil
• 1 sprig Curry Leaves (8-10 curry leaves)
• 1 teaspoon Urad Dal
• 1 teaspoon Chana Dal
• 1 teaspoon small Mustard Seeds (Rai)
• 2 dry Red Chilies

Instructions

Coconut Base:

1. Add chopped coconut, green chilies, ginger chunks, roasted Chana, salt and half water quantity in blender and make a coarse paste. Do not over blend the mix as it will become like a paste. Also add the rest of water eventually based on coconut base consistency as few people like it thick but few like it runny.
2. Coconut base is ready and it is time for tempering it with tadka which is very essential for Coconut chutney.

Tempering Chutney:

1. Put a pan on medium flame and add oil to it and wait for it to become hot.
2. Add mustard seeds to it and wait for it to splutter.
3. Add Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Curry leaves, dry red Chilies to it and sauté it for 2 minutes. Dal grains color will turn into light brown and tadka is ready.
   

   

4. Add tadka to Coconut Chutney base.
5. Spicy Coconut Chutney is ready. Serve it with Idli, Dosa (rice pancake) or Uttapams.

Additional Tips & Tricks

• Adding more green chillies to coconut base will make it more spicy and which is unusual from authentic Coconut Chutney. This is just to make it spicy so that it can be consumed with other dishes as well.
• Sometimes roasted Chana is not available in kitchen, you can dry roast Chana Dal and then add it to coconut base while blending in mixer. If you are in India then you can easily find out Sattu which is roasted Chana powder and can be added instead of roasted Chana.
• If you do not remove brown skin of coconut then you might not get smoothness in chutney. Removing the brown skin will give you extra coconut flavor and when it is blended with green chilies then a good punch of spiciness too.