South Indian Coconut Chutney Recipe for Idli Dosa (with Curd)

As I mentioned in the Tamil Hotel-Style Coconut Chutney post, South Indian chutneys come in many varieties and often are the best combination with idli and dosa. Fresh coconut ground with green chillies, roasted Bengal gram, ginger and tempered with mild spices - what's not to love? This variation of South Indian chutney has curd which lends a lovely body and sourness to the chutney and goes perfect with idli, dosa, and even masala paniyaram.

The gorgeous chutney you see in the pictures was made by my good friend Disha who hosted a lovely brunch at her place this Saturday for a few friends. I absolutely loved the freshness and mild sweetness in this chutney and asked for the recipe immediately. She had adapted it from Chandra Padmanabhan's Simply South.

Now, a quick word about Chandra Padmanabhan's cookbooks. Although Dakshin (US | India) is her more popular and award-winning book, I am partial to Simply South and have tried quite a few recipes from it. If you want a set of good cookbooks to guide you through South Indian vegetarian cooking, I recommend her books. I have all three of her books (her latest book is a compilation of best recipes from the past three with a few new ones added and I don't own this one).

SOUTH INDIAN COCONUT CHUTNEY (WITH CURD)

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes ~1 cup
Adapted from: Simply South by Chandra Padmanabhan (US | India)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of grated coconut
• 1/4 cup of roasted Bengal gram (pottukadalai / bhuna chana)
• 3-4 of green chillies
• 1/2" piece of ginger
• 2 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves
• 3 tbsp of curd or plain yogurt(ideally with a bit of sourness)

For tempering:

• 1 tsp of oil
• 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds
• 1 tsp of urad dal / ulutham paruppu / uzhunnu parippu
• 1/4 tsp of asafoetida / hing / perungayam
• 1 of dry red chilli, torn into halves
• 1 sprig of curry leaves

How to Make South Indian Coconut Chutney:

1. Grind together - coconut + Bengal gram + ginger + coriander + green chilies + salt to a smooth consistency adding about 3-4 tbsp of water
2. Add curd to this and mix well
3. Heat oil for tempering and add the ingredients for tempering in the order given
4. When the mustard start to pop, dunk the content into the prepared chutney and mix well
5. Serve South Indian coconut chutney with dosa, idli, adai, vada, uthappam, pakoda, etc.