Coconut /Thengai Chutney

This is the most common dish in Southern India. It is in the regular breakfast menu in TamilNadu, for Idly, dosa , Pongal and so on. Every family has their own version of this chutney with + / - of certain ingredients ( but no one can skip coconut :) , just kidding !!). Here is another version of this chutney. 
My hubby and many of his friends like this chutney. They ask for this when we invite them for dinner. 

Coconut chutney

Serves - 4 

Preparation time - 10 minutes 

Ingredients :

Coconut grated - 3/4 cup or 1/2 cup small pieces

Roasted gram dal/ pottu kadalai - 1/2 cup 

Green chili - 1 

Ginger - 1/2 inch 

Small onion - 1 

Salt - as per taste 

Water - 1/2 cup

Seasoning: 

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp 

Curry leaves - few

Method: 

Coconut chutney

Add the coconut, roasted gram dal, onion, ginger, green chili with salt and water. Grind it smooth. 

You can use red chili for the red version of this chutney 

I used 1 spring of coriander for the green version of this chutney. 

In a tadka pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds after it spluttering sound ceases add urad dal until brown add hing and curry leaves and pour and mix in the chutney. 

Note : Add it after  tadka gets cold, otherwise it may lead to tiny explosions and it can hurt.  

Carrot Chutney

Carrots are rich source of Vitamin A, it has got slight sweet taste which attracts people of all ages. We can bet not even a single person can hate carrot. It tastes great in raw form or in poriyal,sambhar ,as a sweet or even cake.

My mom used to prepare carrot poriyal for my lunch. Its easy to prepare during the morning rush hours. Here in US, I could find carrots in all colors white, purple or yellow. Though the other color ones are not as sweet as the regular orange ones, I like the orange ones. After marriage, I came to know about carrot sambhar or rice. My hubby loves both. I have carrot cake in my to-do list, which I have to definitely give a try once

Carrot chutney is a unique recipe, the sweetness gets masked by the addition of garlic and onions.It tastes great with idly or any kind of dosas.

Carrot Chutney

Serves - 4
Preparation time - 30 minutes

Ingredients :

Small onions - 5 or Medium onion - 1
Carrots 2
Red chili - 1
Garlic - 1 big clove
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - few

Method:

Carrot Chutney

Chop onions roughly and carrots into big squares. Cut garlic into big pieces. Tear the red chili into half.

In a pan heat a table spoon of oil , add garlic then red chili once it turns big, include onions fry for a minute. 

Then add carrots and keep frying. Close cook for 5 minutes. It will get cooked. 

Allow it to cool, then grind it with salt. 

In a pan, heat a table spoon of oil. Add mustard seeds, once it splutters, then urad dal. 

Urad dal turns slightly brown then add curry leaves and mix it with chutney. 

Enjoy with idly or dosa.

Thanks for reading 

VP