With big, bold, bright flavors, these 3 green chutneys each add freshness and zing to anything you are serving. Drizzle, dip, salsa, and drip to your heart's content.
Place all the chutney ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add a minimum of water, as needed, to allow the ingredients to blend. I find I usually need 2 tablespoons of water.
Taste for salt, chili, and acid. This chutney will keep well in the refrigerator for about a week.
Mint and cilantro chutney
Gather your ingredients.
Wash and dry the herbs and coarsely chop.
Add all the ingredients to a blender with a tablespoon of water. Add as little water as possible, but more as needed for processing.
Blend to a smooth paste and taste for enough heat, lemon juice, and salt. You may also want to add some plain yogurt to round out the flavors a bit. Serve with anything.
This recipe yields about a cup of chutney and it will keep well in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. I find it freezes well, so feel free to save some of it for later.
South Indian Cilantro, Coconut, and Curry Leaf Chutney
Chutney
Place all the ingredients for the chutney into a blender and process into a coarse paste. Add only enough water as needed for processing. Depending on how wet your coconut is, this may take anywhere from 3 to 6 tablespoons of water.
Tempering
Heat oil is a small pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and sauté until they start to pop. About 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the curry leaves and whole chili, if using. Stir for 1 minute until oil is fragrant.
Stir the tempering ingredients into the chutney and taste for salt and heat. Add a little ground Kashmiri chili or cayenne if needed. Serve with dosa, idli and anything else.
The yield for this chutney is about 1 1/2 cups and it will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Use as little water as possible so that your final consistency won’t be watery
As usual, if you want a little more spice, add Kashmiri ground chili or more green chilies.
If your chutney is bitter, add more mint. You may also want to add some yogurt to round out the flavors a bit.
I have found that my Ninja blender does not do well with small amounts, so I used a personal blender, such as a Bullet, which works well.
To substitute dried coconut for fresh or frozen coconut, the rule of thumb is that 1 tablespoon dried coconut will equal 1.5 tablespoons of fresh. For the cilantro coconut chutney use 10.5 tablespoons of dried coconut. To rehydrate, pour warm water to cover the dried coconut generously and rub the coconut with your fingers for half a minute or so to hurry the absorption along. Cover the bowl and let sit for an hour. Drain and place on paper towels; squeeze out excess moisture and use as you wish.
If you don't black lentils (urad dal), you can skip these ingredients, or replace them with a tablespoon or two of coarsely chopped peanuts. The toasted dals add texture and a little flavor to the chutney.
Substitution for tamarind paste: An equal amount of pomegranate molasses OR an equal amount of lemon or lime juice + a bit of sugar
You can freeze any of these green chutneys if you have more than you can consume within a week.