Time for an easy coconut chutney recipe! A handful of ingredients and 10 minutes for the BEST coconut chutney for your idli, dosa, medu vada, pongal, upma, etc.
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Coconut chutney is a classic South Indian condiment that is served as a side with many snacks, breakfasts, or meals. It is made by grinding fresh coconut, roasted chana dal, ginger, green chili, and lime juice with a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, dried chilies, hing, and curry leaves.
It is also known as nariyal chutney (Nariyal is the Hindi term for coconut) or thengai chutney in the Tamil language.
There are many variations of coconut chutney e.g.
❤️You’ll Love This Recipe
Restaurant-style: When you go to any South Indian restaurant, a side of coconut chutney along with a few more verities is a must for dishes like idli, dosa, uttapam, and vada. My recipe makes the exact same as your favorite South Indian restaurant (homemade is even better than some restaurants.)
- Taste: Full of fresh coconut flavor with a unique aroma and flavor from curry leaves.
- Texture: Smooth, thick yet flowy consistency. Some prefer dry and super thick texture but this hotel-style coconut chutney has dippable consistency.
Easy to make: 2 simple steps (grinding and tempering) and you’ll have coconut chutney ready.
Quick to make: It takes hardly 10 minutes to make it.
Simple ingredients: All the ingredients are easy-to-find and basic pantry staples for Indian kitchens.
Freezer friendly: Most of the time, I make a big batch and save some for later. I freeze them in individual silicone molds and defrost them as needed.
🧾Ingredient Notes
Here is a pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make this best coconut chutney recipe.
To Grind:
- Coconut: Traditionally coconut chutney is made with freshly grated coconut as coconut grows in abundance in the Southern part of India. But here in the USA, I always use frozen coconut (thawed). I have good experience with Deep and Daily Delight brands of grated coconut.
- Roasted chana dal (Dalia or Fried gram): This is an important ingredient to get the right thick texture. It absorbs the water, brings everything together, and makes the chutney flowy consistency. In the absence of this, coconut and water stay separated and the texture doesn’t seem right.
- Ginger: It adds flavor.
- Green chilies: It adds a spicy taste and heat to the chutney. Adjust the amount as per your liking spice level.
- Lime juice: It adds a slight tang to the chutney and it pairs well with the sweet flavor of coconut. Many prefer to use tamarind paste instead of lime.
- Water: (not in the pic) You’ll need water to make chutney dippable and flowy consistency.
For Tempering:
- Mustard seeds: I have used tiny-sized mustard seeds that I used regularly in my Gujarati cooking. But in South India, they use bigger-sized mustard seeds.
- Urad dal: It is a split, skinless black gram. It is a staple for South Indian tempering (tadka).
- Dried red chilies: If your chilies have dirt on them then wipe them using a wet paper towel or napkin before using.
- Curry leaves: It is a must for a nice aroma and flavor.
- Hing: If you’re Gluten-free then skip adding hing or use natural pure hing without any additives.
👩🍳Step By Step Photo Instructions
1) First, add water to the grinder or blender jar. Then add thawed coconut, roasted chana dal, ginger, green chilies, salt, and lime juice.
2) Grind into a smooth yet runny paste.
3) Remove it to a bowl.
1) For tempering, heat the oil in a small tadka pan. Once hot add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
2) Add urad dal and dry until lightly golden.
3, 4) Add dried red chilies, then add hing and curry leaves and turn off the stove.
5, 6) Right away add this tempering to the chutney. Stir and it is ready to serve.
💭Expert Tips
Substitutes:
- Lime juice: You can use seedless tamarind or ready-made tamarind paste or yogurt for a tangy flavor.
- Roasted chana dal: You can use peanuts or cashews.
- Fresh coconut: You can use dry, unsweetened desiccated coconut or flakes. However, the flavor is slightly compromised.
Consistency: Adjust the water amount as per your liking thick or thin chutney. If you follow the given measurement then you’ll get perfect dippable consistency.
Spice level:
- For spicy chutney, use small thai chilies as shown in the pic.
- For medium spicy, use Indian green chilies or serrano pepper.
- For mild taste, discard the seeds and veins of the green chilies and use the chili portion only.
Fry urad dal on medium heat oil (for tempering) to get crunchy yet cooked dal. If fried on low heat then urad dal will get rock hard.
To make home-style coconut chutney, use only ¼ cup of roasted chana dal (dalia).
🥣 Storage Instructions
- In the refrigerator, it stays good for 3-4 days in an airtight container. Do stir and mix before serving as the chutney may separate and water settles at the bottom.
- In the freezer, it stays good for up to 3 months. I use silicone mold to freeze chutney, once frozen transfer them to a freezer-safe ziplock bag and store them.
- To thaw, remove the required amount in a bowl and keep it on the counter or in the fridge until defrosted. Do not microwave to defrost as it alters the flavor.
- After defrosting the chutney, if it looks too thick then add a splash of water, stir, and serve.
🍽 Serving Ideas
- This coconut chutney goes well with idli, dosa, uttapam, medu vada, paniyaram, etc.
- It pairs well with sambar-rice, ven pongal, upma, rava khichdi, etc.
- It also goes well as a side with your meal that consists of poori, paratha and curry, sabzi.
Check Out Other South Indian Chutney Recipes
Did you try this hotel-style coconut chutney recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
📋 Recipe Card
Coconut Chutney Recipe
Ingredients
To Grind:
- 1 cup Coconut Fresh or Frozen (if frozen then thaw before using)
- 1 cup Roasted chana dal (Fried gram or daria, dalia)
- 2 cups Water
- 2-3 Green chilies
- ½ inch Ginger
- 1 ½ - 2 teaspoons Salt
- 4 teaspoons Lemon juice or Lime juice
For Tempering:
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon Urad dal (split, skinless black gram)
- 2 Dried red chilies
- 8-10 Curry leaves
- ¼ teaspoon Hing (Asafoetida)
Instructions
- First, add water to the grinder or blender jar. Then add thawed coconut, roasted chana dal, ginger, green chilies, salt, and lime juice.
- Grind into a smooth yet runny paste. Remove it to a bowl.
- For tempering, heat the oil in a small tadka pan. Once hot add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add urad dal and dry until lightly golden.
- Add dried red chilies, then add hing and curry leaves and turn off the stove.
- Right away add this tempering to the chutney. Stir and chutney is ready to serve.
Notes
- Lime juice: You can use seedless tamarind or ready-made tamarind paste or yogurt for a tangy flavor.
- Roasted chana dal: You can use peanuts or cashews.
- Fresh coconut: You can use dry, unsweetened desiccated coconut or flakes. However, the flavor is slightly compromised.
- For spicy chutney, use small thai chilies as shown in the pic.
- For medium spicy, use Indian green chilies or serrano pepper.
- For mild taste, discard the seeds and veins of the green chilies and use the chili portion only.
- Fry urad dal on medium heat oil (for tempering) to get crunchy yet cooked dal. If fried on low heat then urad dal will get rock hard.
- Consistency: Adjust the water amount as per your liking thick or thin chutney. If you follow the given measurement then you’ll get perfect dippable consistency.
- To make home-style vesrion, use only ¼ cup of roasted chana dal (dalia).
Kyta
How did u defrost the coconut?
Kanan
let it sit on counter-top until soft and defrosted.
Mirandamom
This is delicious. I had the same experience as the other commenter who used home-roasted chana dal and a food processor: the chana dal stayed whole. But that doesn't actually bother me. Thank you for another great recipe.
Kanan
Glad to hear that you liked this chutney.
I usually use the store bought roasted chana dal aka Dalia.
if you roast the chana dal (split bengal gram) at home, then you will have powdery dal taste in chutney