Urad dal chutney is a delicious and comforting South Indian dish. It pairs beautifully with crispy dosa, soft idli, and vada. Toasting the urad dal brings out its nutty flavor, while fresh coconut adds creaminess and richness. A tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, and spices enhances the chutney, adding extra layers of flavor. The best part? You can whip it up quickly, and it’s absolutely mouthwatering. Perfect for breakfast or dinner time, this chutney will wow everyone at your table!
Perfect Pair for All South Indian Tiffins
This recipe is a favorite every time I make it. Everyone in my family, enjoys this chutney with dosas, idlis, or uttapams! It’s easy to adjust based on how you like it. If you want a thicker chutney, leave out the tomatoes. For a thinner, runnier chutney, just add a little water until it’s the consistency you like. Don’t forget to taste it and add more salt if needed to suit your taste. This urad dal coconut chutney is so delicious that you might find yourself making extra dosas or idlis just to have more chutney to enjoy.
Watch on how to make Urad Dal Coconut Chutney
Serve Urad Dal coconut chutney with:
Ingredient Breakdown
- Tamarind (6g, soaked in a bit of water): Tamarind gives the chutney its tangy and sour taste, which makes it more delicious and exciting. Soaking the tamarind in water helps to soften it. This makes it easier to blend smoothly when grinding, so the tangy flavor spreads evenly throughout the chutney.
- Dried Red Chilies (6): These chilies make the chutney spicy. They also add a smoky and earthy flavor, which mixes well with the other ingredients. If you don’t want the chutney to be too spicy, you can use fewer chilies to make it milder. This way, you control how hot you want the chutney to be.
- Urad Dal (1½ tbsp): Urad dal, or split black gram, is lightly roasted before adding to the chutney. Roasting it gives it a warm, nutty taste, which makes the chutney tastier. It also adds a slight crunch, making the chutney more fun to eat.
- Fresh Grated Coconut (¼ cup): Coconut is the main ingredient in this chutney. Using freshly grated coconut makes the chutney smooth and creamy. It also adds a mild natural sweetness, which balances the sour tamarind and the spicy chilies. This makes the chutney rich and full of flavor.
- Garlic (3 cloves): Garlic gives the chutney a strong, savory taste that makes it more flavorful. It blends perfectly with the sour tamarind and spicy chilies, bringing all the flavors together nicely.
Adjustments and Alternatives
Making Urad Dal Coconut Chutney is easy, and you can adjust it to your liking with these simple tips:
- For extra flavor, try sautéing 3-4 small shallots along with the urad dal, coconut, and dried red chilies. Once sautéed, grind everything together into a smooth chutney. The shallots add a rich, sweet taste.
- You can use different oils based on what you like. Instead of gingelly (sesame) oil, you can use peanut oil, vegetable oil, or even coconut oil for a slightly different flavor.
- For an added boost of flavor, add a small pinch of asafoetida (hing) when you do the tempering. Tempering involves heating mustard seeds, curry leaves, and asafoetida in hot oil to pour over the chutney. This step gives the chutney a delicious aroma and taste.
- Adjust the number of dried red chilies depending on how spicy you want the chutney to be. If you like mild spice, use fewer chilies, and if you like it hot, add more. The original recipe has a medium spice level.
This chutney is full of rich, tasty flavors and goes perfectly with dosa, idli, or rice. It’s easy to make and is sure to be a hit with your family. Try this simple recipe the next time you’re craving something delicious!
Step-by-Step Instructions on how to make the Urad Dal Coconut Chutney
- Take a pan and place it on the stove. Add 1 tablespoon of gingelly oil or any cooking oil you like. Turn the heat to low and let the oil warm up slowly.
- Add 6 dried red chilies and 1 ½ tablespoons of urad dal to the pan. Stir them gently as they cook. Keep frying until the urad dal turns a light golden color, which means it’s nicely roasted. Make sure to stir often so it doesn’t burn.
- Add 3 cloves of garlic to the pan right away and fry them gently on low heat. Keep stirring to prevent them from burning. As soon as you can smell the garlic releasing its aroma, add ¼ cup of freshly grated coconut to the pan. Then sprinkle in ¼ teaspoon of salt and mix everything thoroughly so the flavors combine well. Continue stirring and frying the mixture until the coconut turns a light golden brown, which should take a few minutes. Do keep an eye on it to avoid overcooking.
- Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool completely before handling it. Once it has cooled down, transfer the mixture into a small grinder jar. Take the soaked tamarind and extract about 5 tablespoons of tamarind juice. Add this tamarind juice to the grinder along with the mixture. Grind everything together until it is coarsely blended.
- Add around 1/3 cup of water to the mixture and blend it gently. The goal is to get a chutney texture that’s just right—not too coarse but not completely smooth either. Once it reaches the desired consistency, carefully transfer the chutney into a serving bowl, and it’s ready to enjoy!
- Heat one tablespoon of gingelly oil in a small pan over a low flame. Once the oil is warm, add ¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds begin to pop and crackle.
- When the mustard seeds start to pop and make a crackling sound, add a sprig of fresh curry leaves. Be careful, as the curry leaves might splatter a little in the hot oil. As soon as you add the leaves, turn off the stove to prevent the mixture from burning.
- Remove the tempered mustard seeds and curry leaves from the fire, then carefully pour them over the chutney in the bowl. This will add extra flavor and aroma to your chutney, enhancing its taste.
Add in a pinch of hing, if you prefer.
Serving Suggestion
You can enjoy this dish with idli, dosa, vada, or even savory or sweet paniyaram for a delicious South Indian meal. It also tastes amazing with oats uttapam—I’ve tried it, and the flavors are so good! The mix of urad dal, coconut, and tamarind makes a side dish that is perfectly balanced. It is slightly spicy, slightly creamy, and tangy all at once. This combination makes any South Indian breakfast or snack even more enjoyable and flavorful.
Tips for the Perfect Chutney
- Fresh coconut is the best choice for this recipe. It adds a rich and authentic flavor. If you don’t have fresh coconut, you can use frozen grated coconut as a good alternative.
- Always keep the flame low while frying ingredients. This helps avoid burning and ensures the flavors develop slowly and evenly.
- When tempering, wait until the mustard seeds start to pop and crackle before adding other ingredients. If you skip this step or overdo it, the dish might taste bitter.
- Adjust the amount of water based on how thick or runny you want the dish. If you prefer a slightly thinner texture, just add more water.
- For extra flavor, you can add a green chili while grinding the mixture. This will give the dish a nice spicy kick!
Urad Dal Coconut Chutney Recipe
Description
A simple yet Delicious urad coconut chutney with detailed photo and video included. This south indian chutney recipe with urad dhal and coconut compliments very well with idlis, dosas and even rice. This is just another best creation where urad dhal is added to the coconut for extra flavours that would not go amiss. I would highly recommend to use fresh grated coconuts instead of the packaged ones to get the authentic chutney flavour.
Urad Dhal Coconut Chutney
For Chutney
For Tempering
Instructions on how to make the Urad Dal Coconut Chutney
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In pan, add 1 tablespoon of gingelly oil or other cooking oil of your choice at low flame.
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Add 6 dried red chillis.
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Add 1 1/2 tablespoon of urad dhal and keep frying at low heat. Immediately, at 3 cloves of garlic and fry keeping in mind that fire should be at low flame always.
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Add a quarter cup of fresh grated coconut as soon as the urad dhal as slightly changes its colour. Add tsp of salt or lesser at this stage and mix.
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Keep frying the mixtures until the coconut has turned into a light golden brown colour.
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Turn off the stove and transfer the coconut mixtures into a small grinder and let it cool for awhile.
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Once mixture has cooled down, add the thick tamarind paste (I took about 5 tablespoons of water and extracted the tamarind juice.)
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Ground mixture coarsely.Add about ml of water to the mixture and ground a little more.
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You should reach to a constistency where it's not too smooth or coarse. Transfer the urad dhal coconut chutney to a serving bowl.
Instructions for tempering:
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In a pan, add 1 tablespoon of gingelly oil or other cooking oil of your choice at low flame.
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Add 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds and let it crackle.
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Once mustard seeds has crackled, at a sprig of curry leaves and immediately turn off the stove.
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Now, your delicious Urad dhal coconut chutney is ready to be served.
Nutrition Facts
Servings 2
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 308.65kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 18.39g29%
- Saturated Fat 4.11g21%
- Trans Fat 0.05g
- Cholesterol 0mg
- Sodium 317.39mg14%
- Potassium 730.78mg21%
- Total Carbohydrate 33.05g12%
- Dietary Fiber 5.65g23%
- Sugars 9.31g
- Protein 7.75g16%
- Vitamin A 64.96 IU
- Vitamin C 206.09 mg
- Calcium 105.57 mg
- Iron 3.09 mg
- Vitamin D 0 IU
- Vitamin E 3.44 IU
- Vitamin K 29.61 mcg
- Thiamin 0.21 mg
- Riboflavin 0.18 mg
- Niacin 2.19 mg
- Vitamin B6 1.16 mg
- Folate 56.51 mcg
- Vitamin B12 0 mcg
- Phosphorus 166.83 mg
- Magnesium 73.37 mg
- Zinc 1.22 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
You can do this urad dhal coconut chutney without the garlic you if you do not like the taste or smell.
You can also directly at the fresh grated coconut directly to the mixer jar without frying. Just fry the chillis and urad dhal will be sufficient.
