Walnut Coconut Chutney

Walnut Coconut Chutney – a simple, ready in a jiffy south Indian style coconut chutney (with the addition of walnuts), always a must with dosas, idlis, pongal or even as a sandwich spread!

As I have mentioned before, mornings in our house is a typical south Indian breakfast of either idlis (steamed rice-lentil or semolina savory cakes), dosas (rice-lentil savory crepes) or instant varieties of dosas and sandwiches (as a spread).

But all these are never complete without an accompaniment of a freshly ground coconut chutney to dip in and enjoy! I have made a myriad of chutneys which you can find on my blog, but this chutney is special as it has WALNUTS, a super, super food!

The nutrition quotient of walnuts is endless:

Rich in antioxidants
Excellent source of Omega-3s fat, the good fat everyone needs to imbibe in their daily diet
Anti inflammatory – helps especially in conditions of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes etc.
Good for your brain (hint- looks like the shape of a brain :D)
Lowers cholesterol….I can go on!

So, all I did was add a handful of walnuts (toasted or untoasted is fine) along with my regular coconut chutney and viola, your family gets to eat their daily quota of heart healthy and super food walnuts hidden in a chutney!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE COCONUT CHUTNEY WITH WALNUTS:

Freshly grated coconut – if you can find fresh (grating your own is best), that is awesome, but if you cannot, frozen grated coconut is perfectly fine too. This is available in any Indian store or online. But, if you do not have access to that too, using unsweetened desiccated coconut should work good too.

Dry red chilies/Indian red chili powder/cayenne pepper powder – if using whole dry red chilies like I have grown up using; just roast them a bit in a dash of oil before blending. If you cannot find these, just use regular red chili powder according to the heat or spice level of your powder.

Tamarind (fresh or in paste form)–we normally use fresh tamarind but if you cannot find it, use tamarind paste instead; both are available in any Indian store. If you cannot find them, just squeeze a dash of lemon/lime juice instead but tamarind is recommended for an authentic Indian taste!

Fresh ginger – a large chunk gives it a lovely aroma and it is good for you too.

Coriander seeds (optional) – this is one spice I add in most of my coconut chutneys or curries but it is optional in this chutney; (but believe me, gives a lovely aroma and flavor).

Handful of fresh curry leaves – traditional coconut chutneys add these only in the tempering, but looking at the health and nutrition benefits of curry leaves and the fact that I have access to a huge home grown curry leaf tree, I have started adding a handful of leaves in most of my chutneys.

Green chilies/jalapenos – again optional as you are already adding the red dry variety, but I love the flavor of fresh green chilies in my dishes.

Blend all these ingredients with a little water until almost smooth. Remove to a serving bowl, add salt to taste (or can be added while blending too).

FOR TEMPERING/SEASONING (no south Indian coconut chutney is complete without it), all you need is some coconut oil (or any other cooking oil), some mustard seeds and curry leaves. I do add a dash of hing/asafetida powder (a pungent plant based powder), the aroma of which our family loves but this is optional.

Add the tempering to the coconut walnut chutney, mix and serve!

That is it! Just blend, temper and enjoy this delicious, walnut rich coconut chutney with any dish, be idlis, dosas, in sandwiches, with pongal, as a dip or with any dish you fancy !

My choice this time was thick, healthy and nutritious comfort food Pongal or Rice-Lentil-oats (in the ratio of 1:1:1) savory porridge like Indian dish (with lots of finely chopped curry leaves) and again, instead of cashew nuts or peanuts, I have added some roasted walnuts in the pongal!

Enjoy my foodie friends and do share your version by sharing a picture either on Instagram using the handle #curryandvanill16 (@curryandvanilla16) and rate and comment in the box below so I can see.

Happy Eating!

Here are some more chutneys you may enjoy making and eating:

Yum

Coconut Walnut Chutney

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Serving Size: 3-4

A simple, ready in a jiffy south Indian style coconut chutney (with walnuts) always enjoyed with dosas, idlis, pongal or even as a sandwich spread!

Ingredients

FOR CHUTNEY:

1 to 1 ½ cups grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
Handful of walnuts, dry roasted
1 tsp red chili powder (or 4-5 dry roasted dry red chilies)
1 marble sized tamarind or 3/4 tsp tamarind paste
1 large green chili/jalapeno/Serrano (optional)
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tsp coriander seeds (optional)
Handful of curry leaves
Salt to taste

FOR TEMPERING:

2 tsp coconut oil (or any cooking oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
Pinch of hing/asafetida powder (this is optional)

Instructions

If using dry red chilies, roast in a dash of oil on medium heat until lightly roasted.
Dry roast walnuts until lightly toasted.
Place the grated coconut, walnuts, red chili powder (roasted dry red chilies), fresh tamarind (or tamarind paste), roughly chopped green chilies, ginger, curry leaves and salt to taste.
Blend, adding some water until smooth; remove to a bowl and dilute with more water (rinsing the blender jar) until you get the consistency you want. Adjust the amount of salt.

TO MAKE TEMPERING/SEASONING:

Heat oil in a small saucepan and once hot, add mustard seeds.
As soon as the seeds splutter, add curry leaves and hing powder; saute for a few seconds and add to the chutney.
Mix well and serve with idlis, dosas, pongal, khichdi, in sandwiches etc.!
Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Notes

Toasting walnuts is optional.

Adjust the amount of spices according to taste.

Consistency of the chutney should be slightly thick but yet runny. It thickens as time passes, so dilute accordingly, adjusting the salt.

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