Delicious Coconut Chutney / Easy Coconut Dip

Mangalorean food is a blend of various communities coming together to celebrate food.  Largely influenced by South Indian cuisine, Mangalorean food retains its identity and stands tall in the Indian subcontinent. Ingredients like coconut and curry leaves are common to most curries, as are ginger, garlic and chilli. And amongst this cuisine, Mangalorean Protestant food is one of a kind.

Most of our recipes use a lot of fresh coconut and cashew nuts and dried red chilies ( in moderation of course). All our dishes whether it was breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks had coconut and cashew nuts and chilies.

In fact my Mum used to receive bags of 100 coconuts at a time from her Mum who had numerous coconut trees in her various gardens. So we never had a lack of coconut in our house even when it was considered expensive to use. And so I grew up loving all things coconut and we would even eat it as it was.

One of the recipes my Mum made was a Chutney ( Coconut Dip) to which she would add other delicious ingredients that you could eat by the spoonful on its own or with dosa ( Rice crepes) or idli ( steamed rice cakes) or even with bread and butter.

There are so many ways to make it and my Mum surpassed herself in the art of making chutney. It could be thick or thin or spreadable and to this day I prefer the chutneys she made to what is available in restaurants and hotels. There is something so satisfying about this humble dish and every Mangalorean probably knows how to make good chutney!

To cut a long story short, here is one of my Mum’s recipes that I demonstrated live on Facebook a while ago.

The Recipe:

Roast together 3 tbsp grated coconut, 1 tsp Bengal gram dhal, 1 green chili, 1/4 medium onion, 1 clove garlic, a tiny piece of ginger in a pan without any oil.
Cool and grind to a smooth consistency.

Season with 1 tsp oil, 1/4 tsp mustard, 1 red chili broken, and a sprig of curry leaves.

Mix the ground ingredients with one tbsp curds before adding the seasoning and salt to taste.

Serve with dosa. Does not keep well. So finish it the day it is made.

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