Coconut Chutney & its varieties

Today for the fifth day of BM, i choose Coconut Chutney.. Almost all of us know the recipe for this chutney right.. Then why i am i posting this?? The reason being everyone does this chutney & its indispensable part of our households, yet each house has a different taste to it..isnt it? The ones at home taste different, from the ones in hotel .. the ones at wedding is again a different one..so today i thought i would share the recipe of what we love at home & make often :)

The post i had done on the second day under Accompaniments, really didn't fall into the category (Spice powders, chutneys & dry sautés)  & so i decided i would post two recipes today.. but at the same time did not want to spam people with extra posts.. I am going to post two versions of Coconut chutney! 

S and i had been to a kerala restaurant for food on a weekend & we loved the Coconut chutney there.. The color of the chutney looked different and tasted real good too.. I had a couple of spoons just in the hope, that maybe like an expert cook, i could recognize all the ingredients ;).. but sadly for me i couldn't :(.. So, i thought i would ask the owner lady ! S was super sure that she is not going to tell you and why would she right?? I thought no harm in trying & i asked her.. She smiled & just told me i put whatever came in my hand.. there no fixed recipe.. i was like What??? Hmm whatever.. but was determined to find the recipe..That evening, when i was just reading blog posts, i saw Sobha's  post and i thought this might be it..& i had to make it.. Yay!! i found the recipe i wanted, thanks to blogging and now this is one regular feature at our place!

Ingredients
1. Onion - 2-3 tbsp
2. Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves
3. Red Chillies - 3-4
4. Coconut - 1 cup
5. Tamarind - pea size
6. Oil - 2 tsp
7. Salt - to taste
8. Water - as required

Preparation Time!!

1. In a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and when warm, add onions, red chillies & curry leaves

1a.. Lightly saute, till the onions turn translucent & remove off flame. Transfer to a blender

2. Then, add another tsp of oil and then sauté coconut till it turns light brown

2a. Remove of flame & transfer to blender too

3. Once they cool down, add tamarind salt and water and blend to a smooth mixture!

Start with 1/4 cup water and increase the quantity, based on the consistency of the chutney you prefer!

Serve with Idli, dosa, Upma, Pongal :).. Tastes good with everything!

Another variety of Chutney, is simple & super quick too.. with absolutely no compromise on taste !

Ingredients
1. Roasted gram - fistful
2. Cashewnuts - fistful (Optional)
3. Green Chillies - 2-3
4. Cumin - 1/2 tsp
5. Tamarind - pea size
6. Coconut - 1 cup
7. Salt - to taste
8. Water - as required 


To Temper
1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Red Chilli - 2
4. Urad dal - 1 tap
5. Hing - a pinch


Preparation Time!!

1. Add ingredients mentioned above, except the 'To temper' table in a blender and make a smooth mixture, as per required consistency

2. Transfer to a bowl, meanwhile heat a pan and add oil. Once warm, add mustard seeds

3. As it splutters, add Urad dal, add red chillies by breaking them into half and sprinkle hing

4. Saute till dal turns light brown. Remove off flame & pour it over the chutney & mix well

Pointers

* Adding cashew nuts gives a very creamy texture. You could exclude that and replace it with Roasted gram

** A pod of garlic could also be added!

*** You could include a sprig or two of cilantro too.. The color would be a pale green, with no alteration in the taste!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see what other Blogging Marathoners are doing this BM#15