Hotel Style COCONUT CHUTNEY | SIDE DISH FOR IDLI/DOSA

Coconut chutney is the most common and popular side dish for the south Indian breakfast items like Idli,Dosa and many other items.Though it is the most simple recipe,I thought of sharing my recipe for coconut chutney which tastes almost similar to the chutney we get in hotels.Most of us usually use ginger in the coconut chutney and I usually experiment with various additions like coriander,mint and curry leaves and sometimes few combinations of them in the coconut chutney.Even the color and flavor of coconut chutney depends on the ingredients used,I sometimes like to keep it just white and some times green and also you can even make a white chutney with green specs.If you alter the green chillies with red chillies,it will turn to red color chutney.Coconut chutney is really versatile and can be played with lot of ingredients.

Coming to today's post,I mentioned Hotel Style Coconut chutney because the outcome of this chutney tastes almost similar to the chutney which we get in hotels and the key ingredient here is the addition of few garlic pods in the recipe.The addition of few pods of garlic would add a nice flavor to the chutney.I have mentioned few more options in the notes and go through it before you make it.

Hotel Style Coconut Chutney | Kobbari Pacchadi Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup grated fresh Coconut

1/4 cup Fried gram/Dalia/Roasted gram

2 medium Garlic cloves(pods)

3-4 Green Chillies(adjust according to your spice level)

1/2 tsp Tamarind pulp

Salt to taste

to temper:

2 tsp Ghee/Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad dal

a sprig of Curry leaves

a small pinch of Asafoetida

Method:

• Slightly warm the green chillies in an empty pan and also add fresh grated coconut and warm it for a minute.You do not need to fry the coconut or chillies completely.This process of warming up the coconut will make the chutney stay fresh for long even if it is kept outside.However this step is optional and you can skip warming the coconut and green chillies.
• Grind grated coconut with fried gram,garlic pods,green chillies,tamarind pulp and salt to a coarse powder.
• Add enough water and grind it to a thick and smooth(but slightly coarsely if you like)chutney.The consistency is completely left to your choice,we like it thick and slightly coarse.
• Remove the chutney from the jar and collect it into a clean bowl.
• Heat ghee/oil in a small tempering pan and crackle mustard seeds and add urad dal and fry until they turn slightly red.
• Add curry leaves and asafoetida and give a swirl immediately and pour the tempering on to the chutney and cover it immediately with the lid.You can mix the tempering immediately or mix it just before serving it,but close the lid immediately to retain the fragrance of the tempering.

Serve it with Idli/Dosa/Pongal/Paniyaram.

Notes:

1. As I mentioned in the method the process of warming up the coconut will make the chutney stay fresh for long even if it is kept outside,but it is optional.
2. We like the chutney to be very thick and slightly coarse instead of a very smooth chutney.So prepare the chutney according to your requirements.
3. The amount of green chillies depends on the spice level of individual preferences,so adjust it according to your requirements.
4. Add less amount of tamarind in the chutney otherwise it makes the chutney quite tangy and spoils the taste.
5. Do not add more cloves of garlic,it should give a hint of flavor of the chutney but should not over power the flavor.If you are using a big garlic pod,use just one.
6. Tempering with ghee definitely adds nice flavor and taste to the chutney and is highly recommended by me.

Variations:

1. You can add 1/2" ginger along with garlic pods while grinding.But I like the flavor of garlic alone in this chutney to get the typical hotel style chutney.
2. You can replace green chillis with red chillies and also add a 1/2 small onion (or 4-5 shallots) while grinding the chutney which gives a red color hotel style chutney.