Green Chutney – The Versatile Coconut-Cilantro-Mint Combination!

Yes, occasionally, I go back to posting basic recipes for people who are newbies in the kitchen. This is one such recipe. This green chutney works beautifully for sandwiches, for Parsi delicacies like Patra ni Machhi and Patra ni Kolmi and yes, you can also use it as a marinade-gravy base for meats. I usually make a 2-bottle batch and use it as and when I need it. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for a week to ten days and because of the added acidity, the colour remains a beautiful green. Go on, give it a try. 😊

Ingredients:

1 whole (medium-sized) fresh coconut, break, remove from shell and cut into slivers

1 cup (tightly filled) coriander leaves, washed

1 cup (tightly filled) mint leaves, washed

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

15 - 18 large cloves of garlic, peeled and washed (increase the quantity if the garlic cloves are small)

12 to 14 green chilies, break into 1-inch pieces

Juice of 2 to 3 limes, to taste

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Method:

1.    Combine coconut sliver, coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, garlic cloves and cumin seeds, juice of 1 or 1½ limes (only), salt and sugar in a grinder. Add quarter cup water and give it a good whiz. Grind the chutney to a smooth thick consistency.

2.    Open the grinder to check the consistency of the chutney, add more water only if needed and give it yet another whiz.

3.    Check seasoning and acidity levels and adjust lime juice, salt, and sugar as/if needed. If added, give the chutney one more whiz to ensure the added ingredients are well incorporated into the chutney.

4.    Remove the chutney into clean, sterilized, airtight bottles or any airtight fridge container.

5.    Allow the chutney to cool to room temperature; do not put it in the fridge until cool.

Chef Notes:

1.    The quantity of lime juice, salt and sugar depends entirely on your palate. I do suggest you add these three ingredients a little at a time and keeping adding more, as needed. The thing to always remember when cooking anything is, you can always add more as needed, but once added, reducing the excess is difficult and, in some instances, impossible.

2.    I used 12 to 14 medium sized dark green chilies, the ones that are quite high on the heat quotient. If you choose to use the long, light green, not-so-spicy variety, please adjust the quantity according. Here too, the same rule applies. Add fewer chilies if you are unsure, taste as you grind, add more as/if needed and give the chutney a good whiz.

3.    When raw mangoes are in season feel free to substitute them in place of lime juice.

4.    There’s one more use for this versatile baby (read: chutney). Whisk in some smoothened yogurt to a bowlful of this chutney as serve it as a dip with tandoori chicken and tikkas. Oh yeah, it works!

5.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: