Coconut Chutney Recipe: Pantry Ingredients Using Dried Coconut Shreds 

I love coconut chutney when eating dosa, but in traditional South Indian recipes, you either use frozen coconut or freshly grated ones. The frozen coconut shreds are hard to find in a western grocery store and the freshly grated one take time. I experimented with using dried coconut shreds and it works perfectly! All it needs is preparation since you will need to soak it overnight. 

One of the things I love about South Indian cooking is that using plants and lentils is in the DNA. There’s no need to overthink or modify it if you want to start using more plant-based ingredients. Moreover, it’s nutritious and focuses on gut health, digestion, and fiber. 

There’s one ingredient here that’s distinct to Indian cooking at that’s asafoetida or hing powder. When I first started cooking Indian food regularly, I wasn’t sure about the strong smell. But overtime, I have grown to love it and the flavors it gives. If you want to know more about asafoetida, Bon appétit has an article on it. 

In terms of nutritional value, here’s what an article in the Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine has to say: 

The internet has made it easy to buy ingredients from all over the world. You can actually get asafoetida on Amazon. My goal in sharing this recipe is to make it less daunting for non-Indians to cook Indian food. In the traditional coconut chutney recipe, they use fresh curry leaves. The good news is, this recipe works well with dried curry leaves, which you can get online. To complement your coconut chutney, make this simple dosa recipe. 

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Serves: 6 Prep Time: 9 Hours Cooking Time: 2 Minutes 2 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

1 cups shredded dried coconut (I use the one 365 brand from Whole Foods)
2-3 cups of water
1 tsp salt
1 small piece of ginger or you can use 1/2 tsp ginger powder

For Tempering
1 tbs coconut oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 dried red chilis
1/2 tsp asafoetida or hing
1/4 cup dried curry leaves

Instructions

1. Place 2 cups of dried coconut shreds in a bowl and add 2 cups water. Cover and place in the fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.
2. Blend the coconut along with the salt and ginger. Add a bit more water if needed. Set aside. It's not runny, but not thick either.  Taste if it needs more salt if you added more water.
3. Heat coconut oil. Wait until it’s hot, then add mustard seeds.
4. When they start popping (this takes about 10 seconds if the oil is hot), add red chilis, asafoetida, and curry leaves. Let the leaves cook for a few seconds and turn off heat.
5. Add the oil with spices to the blended coconut and stir.