Coconut Chutney (8 coconut chutney varieties)

Coconut chutney recipe – I make coconut chutney almost 3 to 4 times a week, not only to accompany our typical South Indian breakfast foods but also for evening snacks like pakora, vada, sandwiches and even for plain rice. Yes we Telugu speaking people make a special kind of kobbari pachadi to serve with plain rice and ghee. I am yet to share that recipe on the blog.

Each region in South India has their own way of making coconut chutney with slightly different ingredients. I am sharing 8 different kinds of coconut chutney recipes which you can easily try for your breakfast like
Idli
Crispy dosa
Vada
Pongal
Uthappam

If you are new to South Indian foods, then read on to know

What is coconut chutney?

Coconut chutney is a basic condiment made by blending fresh coconut, chilies, cumin, ginger & salt. It is then tempered with little oil, mustard seeds, red chili, hing & curry leaves.

The other varieties of coconut chutney are made with the addition of fried gram, chana dal, red chilies, shallots, garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves etc. Each of these give a different taste to the coconut chutney.

I keep experimenting a lot with various ingredients & found some of these add a really good taste & aroma.

Tips to make good coconut chutney

1.Coconut is the star of this chutney. So always use fresh coconut or frozen one. Though desiccated coconut can be used, it does not yield a really good chutney. If using frozen coconut, thaw it in the refrigerator and not in the microwave.

We make coconut chutney even with copra or dried coconut (not desiccated coconut) following the same recipe mentioned in the recipe card. This chutney will be naturally sweet and very aromatic.

2.Fried gram or bhuna chana is one of the ingredient that is used in the chutney. It adds a thick texture & a nutty aroma to the coconut chutney. If you are not accessible to it, just replace it with chana dal or bengal gram. It has to be roasted until deep golden & used.

3. Chilies are used to add heat & spice to the coconut chutney. Green chilies are the best choice but red chilies can also be used. Just fry the red chilies in hot oil until crisp and then blend them with other ingredients.

4. Tamarind or lemon juice : I do not add tamarind or lemon when it is made to serve with idli dosa as the batter already has a faint hint of sourness.

Refrigerating coconut chutney

It is best to consume coconut chutney with in few hours of preparing. However it keeps good for two days if stored in a air tight steel or glass container. A fresh hot seasoning to the refrigerated chutney brings back all the freshness.

If you plan to refrigerate the it then just blend coconut, salt, cumin, green chilies & ginger with some water. You can also use mint & coriander leaves.

But avoid using ingredients like onion, roasted gram, peanuts & tamarind. These ingredients will alter the taste of the coconut chutney.

Coconut chutney made with lemon juice goes good with snacks like vada, masala vada, sandwiches etc.

To use tamarind, soak very little tamarind in little hot water. Squeeze up the pulp and filter this. Use this along with plain water as needed to grind. If using lemon juice, add it towards the end.

How to make white coconut chutney?

If you are someone like my kids who fancy the white coconut chutney that doesn’t turn green or cream color, then here are the tips to follow:

Use only white coconut gratings, avoid brown parts.
Next use only small hot green chilies, avoid long and thick green chilies.
There must be more coconut and less fried gram in the coconut chutney. For half cup grated coconut, 1 tsp of fried gram would be sufficient.

More Chutney recipes,
Onion chutney
Tomato chutney
Peanut chutney
Mint chutney

1. Basic coconut chutney recipe

You can make so many variations to this basic coconut chutney like adding some mint, coriander leaves, garlic, lemon juice, tamarind etc. You can also make getti chatni / thick chatni that is served in banana leaf in Tiffin Hotels. Recipe is the same as below, but grind with less water to make a thick chutney.

Coconut chutney

Coconut chutney is a condiment made with fresh coconut, dal, chilies & spices. This recipe post shares 8 different kinds of coconut chutney recipes to accompany most snacks & south Indian breakfasts like idli, dosa, vada & pongal.

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time2 minutes

Total Time7 minutes

Servings3 people

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

Ingredients for coconut chutney

• ¾ cup coconut grated or ¼ cup chopped
• 1½ to 2 tablespoons fried gram or chana dal or peanuts
• 1/8 inch ginger piece (or 1 garlic clove)
• 2 green chilies (adjust to taste) or red chilies
• ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• ½ teaspoon cumin or jeera
• Water as needed

optional

• ¼ cup coriander leaves or 10 to 12 mint leaves (optional)
• lemon juice or little tamarind soaked in hot water (optional)

seasoning or tadka (optional)

• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 red chili broken
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• ¼ teaspoon mustard or rai
• 1 pinch hing or asafoetida

How to make the recipe

Making coconut chutney

• Add coconut, ginger or garlic, cumin, green chilies,salt & fried gram to a blender or chutney jar.  
• If you do not have fried gram dry roast peanuts or chana dal until golden and aromatic.
• Cool all the ingredients and add them to the jar.
• Blend all the ingredients well without adding water. This helps to get smooth chutney. Scrape the sides.
• Blend until smooth. Pour water as needed and blend to get a smooth coconut chutney. 
• Taste it and add more salt and chilies if needed. Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl.

Optional – Tempering coconut chutney

• Heat a pan with 1 teaspoon oil.  
• When the oil turns hot, add mustard.
• Soon they will crackle, then add broken red chili, 1 pinch urad dal (optional) and curry leaves. 
• When the curry leaves turn crisp, add hing and pour this over the coconut chutney.
• Serve coconut chutney with dosa, idli, vada or pongal.

NUTRITION (estimation only)

Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 150mg | Potassium: 1028mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1320IU | Vitamin C: 150.6mg | Calcium: 250mg | Iron: 9.7mg

Notes

If you do not have green chilies, dry roast red chilies and use.

If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.

More coconut chutney recipes for idli, dosa & other breakfasts

2. Simple red coconut chutney

This is a simple one which I at times make when I do not have green chilies. It is different from the kerala style red coconut chutney. It is very aromatic and tastes nutty.

Ingredients
½ cup grated coconut or chopped
1 ½ tbsps chana dal for aroma or fried gram / bhuna chana
2 shallots or small onions (optional)
3 to 4 red chillies (kashmiri or byadgi)
¾ tsp tamarind paste or little tamarind soaked in hot water
1 to 2 small sized garlic cloves
Salt as needed
Water as needed
Tadka/ Tempering
¾ tbsp. oil
¼ tsp mustard
½ to ¾ tsp urad dal or ¼ tsp cumin
Pinch of hing
1 sprig curry leaves
1 broken red chili
small crushed garlic clove

Method: Heat a tsp oil and roast red chilies, chana dal until golden. Add shallots and saute for a minute. Cool and then blend with other ingredients. If using fried gram just blend all the ingredients without onion. Later add water as needed. Temper as mentioned above in the recipe card.

Tip to make the chutney smooth you need a heavy duty blender otherwise soak the roasted red chilies for some time in water before blending.

3. Mint chutney recipe

One of the best chutney to start your day as it ignites the digestive fire and keeps the digestion good for the whole day. This chutney is great not only for breakfasts but tastes wonderful when accompanied with fried snacks like bonda, vada, kathi rolls, wraps and even sandwiches.

You can find a detailed step by step guide here on this post of coconut pudina chutney. Brief recipe here.
Ingredients
½ cup fresh coconut chopped
¼ to ½ cup pudina/ mint (loosely packed)
2 to 3 green chilies
1 tbsp fried gram / bhuna chana dal or ¾ tbsp chana dal & ¾ tbsp urad dal
½ inch ginger or 1 to 2 garlic cloves
½ tsp cumin
Salt as needed
Lemon juice little or 1 tsp tamarind paste
Tempering/ Seasoning
Oil as needed
1 red chili broken
¼ tsp mustard
½ tsp urad dal
Pinch of hing
Method: If using bhuna chana or fried gram, just add all the ingredients and blend first. Then add water little by little and blend. If using chana and urad dal roast them until golden. Cool and use them to blend along with other ingredients. Temper as mentioned in the first method.

4. Coriander coconut chutney

For south Indian breakfasts and sandwiches. It can also be used to spread while making kati rolls and chatni sandwiches.

Ingredients
¼ cup chopped or ½ cup fresh coconut
¼ cup fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp. chana dal or fried gram
½ tsp. grated ginger or a small piece
1 to 2 green chilies
salt as needed
lemon juice or tamarind as needed
½ tsp. cumin
Tempering/ Seasoning (optional)
1 tsp. oil
1 broken red chili
1 sprig curry leaves
¼ tsp mustard
¼ tsp cumin
pinch of hing

Blend all the ingredients in a blender with water as needed.

5.Dried coconut chutney (dry & wet chutney)

This recipe uses dried coconut known as Copra. It is a great alternate to fresh coconut. There are many places where fresh coconut is not available. Sometimes I make this chutney as dried coconut is high in calcium and has a higher nutrition profile.

This dried coconut chutney turns on the sweeter side as most times copra is naturally sweet. If you do not prefer sweet taste then choose copra that doesn’t taste sweet.

Recipe: Roast 3 to 4 red chilies in a 1 tsp oil until crisp. Remove them to a plate and fry 2 tbsps chana dal or peanuts until golden & aromatic. Add half tsp cumin and 3 to 4 garlic cloves. Fry for 30 seconds. Cool these and blend with half cup chopped dried coconut and salt to a smooth powder.

For a dry coconut chutney we use roasted gram, more garlic and red chilies. Add more salt, chili and tamarind if needed.

Then pour water as needed if you want to make a wet chutney. You can also add little tamarind (optional). Blend the coconut chutney to a smooth paste. If you desire do a tempering.

6. Raw mango chutney with coconut

Made with fresh raw mango, coconut, chilies, garlic and other basic ingredients. This mango coconut chutney is great to enjoy with any paratha, roti, snacks or breakfasts. Check the recipe of coconut mango chutney here

To make this mango coconut chutney, Fry 1 tbsp of urad dal & green chilies in 1 tsp oil until golden. Cool & blend them together with half inch ginger, salt, half tsp cumin, half cup grated coconut, 3 tbsp water & half cup cubed raw mango.

Then temper the chutney as mentioned in the recipe card above.

7. Carrot chutney

This can be made in 2 ways either by sauteing the carrots for a short time or using them raw. You can check the full recipe of coconut carrot chutney here

I prefer to use raw carrot for this chutney. Tender & young carrots taste very good. Fry 1 tbsp chana dal & green chilies in 1 tsp oil until golden and aromatic.Cool and blend with half cup coconut, half cup chopped carrots, 1 garlic clove or a small piece of ginger, 2 to 3 tbsps water, salt & half tsp cumin.

You can temper the chutney with mustard, curry leaves & red chili following the recipe card.

8. Capsicum chutney with coconut

You can find the recipe of coconut capsicum chutney here.