Coconut is one of my favourite ingredients. I love its snowy white appearance when it is freshly grated, the coarse texture when eaten raw and ultimately its rich flavour – be it in chutneys, curries or in my favourite Parsi dessert, Kopra Pak.
In Parsi tradition like with the Hindus, the coconut holds a revered place and is broken on all auspicious occasions such as navjotes, weddings, purchases of new cars etc. Curious about why this is the case, I did some research and found this interesting post that explains that smashing the coconut is symbolic of annihilating the ego and humbling oneself before God.
In any case, I side-track. From the above rant it is obvious that I love coconut and I love green coconut chutney even more! It goes amazing with Dhandar and can also be used for Chutney-Eeda pattice, chutney and cheese sandwiches and is basically an extremely versatile side-dish that you must master! All the ingredients you will require are at the bottom.
To make the chutney, first get all the ingredients ready in a central place as it will save you the hassle of going back and forth to the pantry.
Roughly chop the coconut into chunks, peel and chop the garlic and chop the twigs from the chillies. Mince the coconut pieces, garlic and coriander in the mixer first adding water as necessary. Then add in the cumin, sugar, vinegar, chillies and lemon juice and mix until the chutney is a very fine paste. I like my chutney quite dry so I try not to put too much water – something to note if you like that kind of chutney too.
And voila! Your chutney is ready…
To make chutney for 6 and also leftovers you will need:
1 full coconut chopped into chunks
1 coriander bunch
10 chillies
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp jeera
Juice of 1 big lemon
1 tbsp vinegar
1.5 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
Hi – this sounds delicious! It’s hard to source fresh coconuts where I live – do you think I could substitute dessicated coconut instead? Assuming that dessicated is stronger than fresh coconut, what proportion would you suggest I use?