I have recently been to a South Indian restaurant, where I ate dosa and some other South Indian speciality dishes. The restaurant served two types of chutneys one was the traditional coconut chutney, and there was this red chutney which was a bit spicy and very tasty. I wanted to ask the restaurant what the chutney was made from, but I forgot. I was wondering if anyone from the forum would know what the red chutney is made from and what the procedure would be to make it?
Hello and welcome to the forum! You're probably referring to the Red Chili Coconut Chutney which is quite famous in Kerala. The red colour of the Chutney is because of the red chilies and tomatoes used in the recipe. The Kerala version of the Chutney uses shallots and onions as well. Roasted gram or kadala paruppu are sometimes removed from the recipe although some still use these. Here are the ingredients to make the Red Chili Coconut Chutney: For the Chutney 2 cups of fresh coconut, grated into small pieces 1/2 cup of sambar onions 2 to 3 garlic cloves 1 and 1/2 ginger, grated 1 chopped tomato 5 to 6 pieces of grated red chilies 2 tablespoon of roasted chana dal 1 tablespoon of coconut oil Salt and pepper to taste For tempering 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon of urad dal 4 to 5 curry leaves 2 teaspoons of oil Instructions Grind these ingredients all together: fresh coconut, sambar onions, garlic cloves, ginger, tomato, red chilies, roasted chana dal, salt and pepper. Add some water, at least two tablespoons and grind the mixture until it becomes medium in consistency. You can add water as needed. Set aside the mixture. Heat some oil in the pan. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Make sure that the mustard seeds are sputtering before you add the other ingredients. Wait for the urad dal to cook, when it's golden brown. Remove it from the pan and immediately pour the tempering over the mixture. Red Chili Coconut Chutney is done and ready to serve, yum! Serve with Dosa or Idli. I hope this helps!
I've read that instead of red chilies, you can add kashmiri red chilies which are not as hot. Tamarind can also make it seem less spicy, if you are concerned about the chutney being too hot.
