Coconut chutney for dosa: the base recipe and 5 variations

What makes a good coconut chutney for dosa

A good coconut chutney for masala dosa is thick enough to sit on a torn piece of dosa without running off, fresh-tasting rather than sour, and seasoned so the green chilli and ginger come through the coconut. Three things decide that: fresh coconut, roasted gram for body, and a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves poured over at the end.

Roasted gram (pottukadalai in Tamil, hurigadale in Kannada) is the ingredient most home cooks skip. It thickens the chutney, stops it separating into coconut and water, and gives the slightly nutty taste of restaurant chutney. Two tablespoons for every cup of coconut is enough.

Recipe card

Prep

10 min

Cook

3 min

Makes

About 200 g (5 katoris)

Per dosa

~88 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut (about 90 g)
• 2 tbsp roasted gram (pottukadalai or hurigadale)
• 2 green chillies
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• About 1/3 cup water

Tempering

• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• 1 dried red chilli, broken
• 8–10 curry leaves
• A pinch of asafoetida (hing)

Method

1. Put the coconut, roasted gram, green chillies, ginger and salt in a mixer jar with half the water.
2. Grind in short bursts, adding the rest of the water a little at a time, until the chutney is coarse but spreadable.
3. Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and, when they pop, the urad dal, dried chilli, curry leaves and asafoetida.
4. When the urad dal turns golden, pour the tempering over the chutney and stir just before serving.

Five variations on the same base

Every variation below starts from the recipe card and changes one or two ingredients. Make the base, then adjust.

Variation	Change to the base	Best with
Hotel-style white chutney	Double the roasted gram, add 2–3 tbsp more water, skip the ginger	Masala dosa, idli
Green chutney	Add a handful of coriander leaves and 6–8 mint leaves	Rava dosa, plain dosa
Red coconut chutney	Replace green chillies with 2 dried red chillies and add a small piece of tamarind	Benne dosa, set dosa
Ginger chutney	Use 1 inch of ginger instead of 1/2 inch and add 1/2 tsp jaggery	Pesarattu, plain dosa
Onion coconut chutney	Grind in 1 small raw onion; eat the same day	Mysore masala dosa

Fresh, frozen or desiccated coconut?

Fresh grated coconut gives the best chutney. Frozen grated coconut is a close second: thaw it for 20 minutes and grind with slightly warm water so the fat does not set. Desiccated coconut works in an emergency. Soak it in warm water for 15 minutes first and expect a flatter taste.

How long does coconut chutney keep?

Coconut chutney is best eaten within a few hours of grinding. Covered in the fridge it keeps until the next day, but it starts to turn sour after that. Add the tempering only to the portion you are serving, and freeze the rest of the ground base in small portions if you make a large batch.

Calories in coconut chutney

A 40 g katori of this coconut chutney has about 90 kcal by MasalaDosa.in’s estimate, most of it fat from the coconut. That is about a third of the calories of the masala dosa it comes with. The masala dosa calorie calculator includes chutney and sambar so you can see the whole plate.

Related

• Masala dosa recipe: the batter and potato masala this chutney is made for.
• Mysore masala dosa: the red chutney that goes inside the dosa.