Name: Coconut Chatni with Dry Coconut Powder/Desiccated Coconut
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup coconut powder/desiccated coconut; 1/4 cup Dalia/Roasted Split Gram; 1/2 cup yogurt; 1-2 green chilies; 1/2 - 1 inch piece ginger; salt to taste (i used approx 1/2 tsp); 1 cup water; Few drops lemon juice (optional); 3 tsp oil; 1 1/4 tsp Urad dal; 1 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds/rai; 2 chopped Green chilies; 10-12 curry leaves

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Coconut Chatni made in 5 minutes using desiccated coconut/ Dry coconut powder. Tastes like chatni made from fresh or frozen coconut without compromising on taste. Made with pantry staples, its easy to put together without a special trip to the store.

This recipe was born out of necessity during the Corona virus lockdown. I have used frozen coconut to make chatni for a few years now. Though I am a huge fan of making it from fresh coconut like we do back home in India, its really not very practical for the amount of time spent in breaking and scraping the coconut. And most of the time, the coconut turns out rotten!

During the lockdown, I made Mixed Dal Dosa and Sprouted Green Moong Dosa but there was no coconut at home and going to the store was definitely not an option. So I found this packet of desiccated coconut/dry coconut powder in my fridge which I had bought some time back to make coconut laddoos. I decided to experiment and make chatni out of it. To my surprise, the chatni turned out delicious. It was definitely a successful experiment and by no means a compromise in either taste or texture.

For those not familiar with Desiccated coconut, its fresh coconut that has been shredded and dried. Its unsweetened and has a long shelf life. Stored properly in the refrigerator, it can even last upto one year! So next time just stock up on some Desiccated coconut and in 5 minutes you can make this delicious chatni to go along with your dosas, idlis, uttapams and appe. Some other accompaniments that go well with South Indian food are Saravana Bhavan Style Tomato Onion Chatni/Kara Chatni,(my copycat recipe), traditional potato stuffing and my tried and tested Sambar recipe. Moving on to the recipe-

Here is the written recipe followed by the step by step pictorial one-

Coconut Chatni with Dry Coconut Powder/Desiccated Coconut

Aanchal Gupta

Coconut Chatni made in 5 minutes using Dry coconut powder/desiccated coconut. Tastes like chatni made from fresh or frozen coconut without compromising on taste. Made with pantry staples, its easy to put together without a special trip to the store.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 3

Total Time 5

Servings cups

Ingredients

1 cup coconut powder/desiccated coconut
1/4 cup Dalia/Roasted Split Gram
1/2 cup yogurt
1-2 green chilies
1/2 – 1 inch piece ginger
salt to taste i used approx 1/2 tsp
1 cup water
Few drops lemon juice optional

for vaghar/tarka/tempering

3 tsp oil
1 1/4 tsp Urad dal
1 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds/rai
2 chopped Green chilies
10-12 curry leaves

Instructions

Place all the ingredients, except for the vaghar/tarka/tempering into a blender and blend till smooth
Adjust water according to how thick you like the chatni
Pour chatni and add vaghar on top

For vaghar

Heat oil and add Mustard seeds/Rai and Urad dal,stir.
Add chopped green chilies and curry leaves and cook till urad dal turns golden brown.
Pour over ground coconut, chatni is ready

Notes

Skip the yogurt for a vegan option or use vegan yogurt. Add a few drops of lemon juice if the yogurt is not sour or if skipping the yogurt completely.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Here is the step by step pictorial recipe-

Ingredients for the chatni