Restaurant Style Coconut Chutney

Breakfast is not complete without Coconut chutney in any south Indian home especially homes in Tamilnadu.
The key to this simple recipe is use of fresh ingredients and any compromise on that will make even the simplest recipe a not 
so favorable one. 
I have grown up eating Idlis and Dosais on most mornings with coconut chutney served with it. Amma would break open the coconut, grate it and grind the chuntey fresh whenever she made it. A light seasoning to it makes it the best breakfast combo ever to be invented.

With such simple ingredients what can go wrong you may ask but the chutney served at restaurants always eluded me until I had this recipe. I make this quite often and hope you will like it too. 

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup fresh grated coconut
2. ¼th cup pottu kadalai/split gram
3. 1 small shallot/pearl onion/chinna vengayam
4. 6 green chillies
5. 1 red chilli
6. 1 inch piece ginger
7. 1 small garlic
8. ½ teaspoon salt

Seasoning:

1. ½ teaspoon mustard
2. ½ teaspoon broken urad dhal/ullutham paruppu
3. few curry leaves

Procedure:

1. Dry grind the ingredients in a mixer for about 5 seconds on high speed. Add 1 cup of water and salt and run the mixer again for roughly about 15 to 20 seconds on high speed. The idea is not to make it a smooth paste. 
2. Transfer to a serving dish. Season with a teaspoon of oil and add to the chutney. Mix well and serve with Idli, Dosai, Vadai, Bajji or Bonda.

TIPS:

• Use fresh coconut or the frozen fresh grated coconut. I have added one red chilli since I spotted one in a restaurant and it is optional. Reduce green chillies if less heat is preferred. Add a tiny bit of garlic to the chutney (make sure it does not overpower the chutney) and Garlic is optional too. 
• Most restaurants do not season the chutney so seasoning is optional. My husband prefers it seasoned so I have done so.  The last pic shows how most restaurant version looks.