Ingredients

For red coconut chutney

  • ½ cup coconut – fresh, grated and tightly-packed
  • 1 tablespoon pearl onions – chopped or 1 tablespoon chopped shallots or onions
  • 2 to 3 dry red chilies – halved or broken or chopped, deseeded
  • 1-inch ginger
  • ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon water – for grinding or blending
  • salt as required

For tempering

  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon urad dal (husked and split black gram)
  • 8 to 10 curry leaves
  • 1 tablespoon pearl onions – chopped or 1 tablespoon shallots or onions
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil – edible

Instructions

Making red coconut chutney

  • Take the tightly packed grated coconut, chopped shallots or pearl onions, dried red chilies and ginger in a chutney grinder or small blender.
  • Add salt as required and water.
  • Grind or blend to a fine consistency.

  • Note that, if you want to tone down the raw taste of red chilies, then just roast them lightly in a pan.

    You can also sauté them in a bit of coconut oil. Apart from ginger, you can also add 1 to 2 cloves of peeled garlic.

  • Transfer the ground red coconut chutney in a small steel bowl or pan and set aside.

Making tempering

  • Heat coconut oil in a small pan.
  • Add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle on low heat.
  • Then add the urad dal.
  • Fry the urad dal on low heat stirring often, till they are a maroon-ish golden.
  • Add the curry leaves and chopped shallots or pearl onions.
  • On a low heat, sauté stirring often till the shallots are light golden.
  • Next add the tempering mixture along with its oil to the red coconut chutney kept in the bowl.
  • Stir and mix well to combine.
  • Serve the Kerala style Red Coconut Chutney with idli, dosa, medu vada or uttapam.