Curry leaf chutney

One of the staples of South indian cuisine is a good coconut chutney. No matter where you are in the country (or the world), coconut chutney is always available at a place that serves south indian food. Growing up, I always had the classic version but as I tried new restaurants, ate at friends’ houses, traveled to new cities, I realized there were many ways to jazz this simple chutney up. One such being this recipe, amping up the flavour with the addition of curry leaves!

I love the flavour of curry leaves and use them in a lot of cooking, whether it is punjabi kadhi or any south indian cooking. They have a lovely fragrance and flavour which really elevate this chutney.

To make it even better, this chutney has an added nuttiness from roasted peanuts, a tanginess from tamarind, heat from green chillies and some punch from ginger and garlic. What’s not to love? 🙂 The green chillies also help to add some more green colour to the chutney, making it stand out from a regular chutney.

All of these are blitzed up with water to get a smooth chutney and then topped with a little tempering of mustard seeds and urad dal. That’s it. It’s that simple!

This chutney is best had with dosas or idlis, but I’ve also had it just as is. Yup, I’m a little nuts 🙂

It has so much more character and depth of flavour than the basic chutney that this has now become my go to accompaniment. Trust me, you’ve got to try this!

Curry Leaf Chutney

Servings: 1 big bowl
Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Chutney:

1 cup grated coconut

2.5 tbsp roasted peanuts (skin removed)

Small ball of tamarind

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

2 green chillies

1/2 cup curry leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 – 3/4 cup water

1 tbsp oil

Tempering:

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp urad dal

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves (6-8 leaves)

Directions

Heat oil in a pan and saute the ginger, garlic and green chillies for a few minutes till the garlic starts to brown
Add the curry leaves and saute till the leaves become crisp
Let the mixture cool and transfer to a food processor. Add the coconut, roasted peanuts, tamarind and salt
Add 1/2 cup water and blitz till you get a smooth paste. Add more water (up to total 3/4 cup) if needed. The chutney needs to be thick and not watery, so only add more water if needed. Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl
In a small pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal
Once they splutter, add the curry leaves and let it splutter. Pour the tempering over the chutney and mix through. Serve with dosa or idli

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