Coconut Coriander Chutney Recipe

Today, we will discuss chutney, the quintessential Coconut Coriander Chutney or Dhaniya Nariyal ki Chutney, and its variations.

Any chutney is a simple, basic condiment that is mostly spicy and can be adapted for a Gluten-free and/or Vegan diet.

Jump to:

• What is chutney?
• So what is coconut coriander chutney? 
• Ingredients for 2 different Coconut Chutney
• 2. Temple/Matha Chutney ingredients
• How to make Coconut Coriander Chutney
• Some other Chutney Recipes
• Coconut Coriander Chutney Recipe

 Hello, welcome to The Mad Scientist's Kitchen, Reinventing the Foodie in you!

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Chutney and me! A little back story

In college, I used to get mad at the waiter. They always dunked batata wada in the coconut chutney! So when the waiter saw me, he returned and came with the batata and chutney separate. But he knew I would not touch the chutney. He would tell me, "Eat the khobri chutney? You will remember it later" Now, I wish I can eat khobri chutney dunked batata wada in the canteen. Life's full circle! 😀 Khobri is coconut in Kannada!

What is chutney?

Chutney is a basic condiment and sauce that is very popular in the Indian subcontinent.

Many kinds of chutney are made depending upon the region, and most vegetables and fruits are used in some kind of chutney.

The variety that can be made is mind-boggling, as the same coconut can be used to achieve different flavours, textures, and tastes.

Then chutney crossed the Indian borders, and Anglo-Indian cuisine used fruits like apples to make its chutney. These chutneys use vinegar and sugar to give them a longer shelf life.

It's easy to make, and homemade chutney definitely tastes the best. Customise the chutney to suit your tastes and ingredients. Coconut chutney is definitely what I look forward to with my idli, dosa, and vada.

So what is coconut coriander chutney? 

My favourite chutney, as in any household, is Coconut Chutney or Nariyal ki Chutney. My coconut chutney recipe is super simple, and I have used just the basic pantry ingredients.

Dhaniya Nariyal Chutney is a vegan condiment blending coconut with green coriander leaves and stalks, green chilli, ginger, garlic, salt and lemon. The chutney is generally tempered with oil, mustard, hing, urid dal and curry leaves. To make it gluten-free by skip adding powdered hing to the tempering.

If you wish, you can skip adding the tempering completely. Most of the time, I avoid adding tempering, and we are fine with it.

If you leave out the coriander stalks and leaves, you get the plain coconut chutney. Even this chutney tastes great!

I recommend using freshly grated or frozen coconut. Desiccated coconut is a no-no in my books unless I am making onion chutney. But even with onion chutney, we prefer fresh coconut now.

The second chutney I would like to share is served in the Temple.

In the temple or the Matha, food is served on either banana leaves or tambul leaves. Food is served in a prescribed sequence.

So, to the left of the leaf is salt with a piece of lemon. Then chutney, pronounced as “CHAAtni,” is served. Absolutely no garlic is used, and yet it is incredibly delicious and pungent, complementing the other dishes.  

We call it Matha Chutney, one of the best chutneys that the Cook, also called Achar(short of Acharya), makes. He eyeballs the ingredients in swift succession and blitzes it in the mixer; now, it used to be in the mortar pestle.

Ingredients for 2 different Coconut Chutney

I am listing the exact measures below, please refer to the recipe card.

1. Coconut Coriander Chutney Ingredients:

• Coconut: Fresh or frozen coconut is fine. If your coconut is frozen, leave it out for about 30 minutes, or else microwave it for 2-3 minutes on high. My neighbour adds boiling water to the coconut. The choice is yours.
• Coriander: More than the leaves; I use stalks, tender ones roughly chopped as they are healthier.
• Chillies: Use as many or as few green chillies as you like, but use them if you want a greenish chutney.
• Ginger and garlic: Use both to make a delicious chutney. I generally use more garlic than ginger.
• Roasted gram: Chickpeas are roasted, and this roasted gram is used in many of our dishes. They are locally called puthana/puthne.
  • These can be eaten raw, and adding the roasted gram to the dish has two reasons:
    • a) your chutney is not runny; the water you use to grind does not separate and run around the plate, and
    • b) I like to believe it increases the nutritive value.
• Cumin seeds: I add some to the chutney. The flavour is delicious.
• Salt and sugar: adjust to your taste.
• Lemon: For a lovely green hue, add lemon juice.
• Water: as needed.
• Tempering: is optional as tempering gives a lovely flavour. You will need oil, mustard, asafoetida, split black dal, broken red chillies and curry leaves.

2. Temple/Matha Chutney ingredients

• Coconut: freshly grated coconut; food ingredients in the temple are always fresh and used immediately.
• Green chillies: Again, fresh, pungent green chillies are used. You can adjust the number according to your taste.
• Ginger: Fresh ginger is accepted in traditional temple cooking, so add some to the chutney.
• Lemon: The juice of lemon makes the chutney delicious. Adjust the amount to suit your tastes.
• Salt: As per taste, I use table salt.
• Water: This is a dry chutney, so use water sparingly.

How to make Coconut Coriander Chutney

1. How to make Coconut Coriander Chutney with tempering:

• Cut the coriander stalks, chilli, and ginger and add them to the mixer.
• If your coconut is frozen, you can thaw it by leaving it out for 30 minutes, microwaving it, or pouring boiling water over it. Add to a mixer jar.
• Add the cumin seeds, garlic, salt, sugar, lemon juice, and roasted gram.
• Blitz in the mixer, add water as needed and grind the chutney. You can grind as fine as you wish. Transfer to a bowl.
• To make the tempering, heat oil in a small wok, add the mustard, and let it splutter.
  • Add the split black gram/urid dal and let it become reddish, asafoetida, red chillies and curry leaves.
  • The red chillies and curry leaves will splutter and splash, so be careful.
  • Add this sizzling tempering to the chutney bowl. Enjoy the sound it makes—it is my favourite sound!
• One word: adding the tempering is optional. I generally avoid adding tempering these days, but chutney tastes good, very good with it.

2. To make Temple Chutney:

• Add all the ingredients to the mixer jar and blitz them up. (Tip: Cut the chillies and ginger.)
• You will need to add a little water.
• Transfer to a bowl and serve.

The Variations in Nariyal ki Chutney

• Now, if you want the white chutney like what is served in the Udupi Hotel, do not add any coriander, mint, or curry leaves to the grind.
• You can use a mixture of coriander and mint in your chutney. The flavours are delicious. I generally use 1 mint to 2 coriander as my ratio.
• In place of coriander, use just mint or curry leaves.
• Try adding just curry leaves. Since curry leaves are healthy and everyone eats chutney, I add curry leaves in place of coriander. There is hardly any difference in the chutney.
• Then, in Delhi, I made chutney using fried onion for sandwiches. The kids loved the chutney sandwiches and finished them all. I'm linking that chutney here.
• Have you used capsicum or green bell pepper in a chutney? I use cashew nuts in the chutney. Now, before you start saying in Goa…. use groundnuts or peanuts; they will also give the same flavours.
• Use sesame seeds and green tomato. Here is the link.
• Have you tried this til ki chutney? It's delicious but does not use any coconut.

Substitutions for Coconut Chutney Recipe

The general additions to a chutney are roasted gram, also called puthana, and bhuna chana. This prevents the chutney from being runny. In case you do not have access to puthna or roasted gram

• Use chana dal. Dry roast it on low flame till it turns reddish. Cool the dal, then grind it to a fine powder. Now add the rest of the chutney ingredients and grind.
• You can stir-fry split black dal and chana dal in a little oil before adding them to the coconut mixture.
• For a souring agent, lemon or tamarind or curds/yogurt is generally used too.
  • Keep in mind that if you want the colour to be retained, adding lemon tamarind generally gives your chutney a blacker shade.

Storing Coconut Chutney

If you ask me, I would rather not store the chutney, but there are times when I end up with extra chutney. You can refrigerate the coconut chutney for one day. If it's longer than that, put it in the freezer. But my tastebuds do not appreciate it.

How do I make my chutney thicker? 

Okay, you added too much water, and your chutney is runny. Your options are 

• You can add more coconut to the blender and blend it.
• You can also add more of the roasted gram and grind. 
• I would instead not heat the chutney to evaporate the water. It is not a gravy or curry!

Some other Chutney Recipes