Red Coconut Chutney (Kerala Style)
Easy and tasty Kerala style Red Coconut Chutney that is made with coconut, dried red chillies, pearl onions, curry leaves and some more spices. Best paired with snacks like Idli, Dosa, Medu Vada and Uttapam.

- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 5 min
- Yield
- 3 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut (- fresh, grated and tightly-packed )
- 1 tbsp 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
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water (- for grinding or blending)
- salt ( as required)
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dal ((husked and split black gram))
- 8 to 10 curry leaves
- 1 tbsp pearl onions (- chopped or 1 tablespoon shallots or onions)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (- edible)
Instructions
- 1
Take the tightly packed grated coconut, chopped shallots or pearl onions, dried red chilies and ginger in a chutney grinder or small blender.
- 2
Add salt as required and water.
- 3
Grind or blend to a fine consistency.
- 4
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.
- 5
Transfer the ground red coconut chutney in a small steel bowl or pan and set aside.
- 6
Heat coconut oil in a small pan.
- 7
Add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle on low heat.
- 8
Then add the urad dal.
- 9
Fry the urad dal on low heat stirring often, till they are a maroonish golden.
- 10
Add the curry leaves and chopped shallots or pearl onions.
- 11
On a low heat, sauté stirring often till the shallots are light golden.
- 12
Next add the tempering mixture along with its oil to the red coconut chutney kept in the bowl.
- 13
Stir and mix well to combine.
- 14
Serve the Kerala style Red Coconut Chutney with idli, dosa, medu vada or uttapam.