Friday, September 11, 2009

Coconut Treat :)

South Indian Kitchens are incomplete without coconut making it's presence felt in some form or the other. I am one pakka South Indian who loves to relish coconut in the innumereable dishes be it savoury or sweet. Oh yeah..there was a phase when I was petrified by the huge "give up eating coconut or else you'll land up being obese, develop high cholestrol or heart problems" and eating coconut based dishes seemed no less than paticipating in 'Fear Factor':(
As you all know that when one is afraid of something..that is the time when you see more of it around u...lol, so rightly there were articles in newspapers, health shows with doctors and dieticians blowing it out of proportion. I gave up eating coconut almost completely :)
I got over this phase gradually for the museum piece that I am ;), moral of the story Moderation is the key! Eating what you like is fine but knowing what quantity is right for you works like the magic words ABRACADABRA!!!
Chalo now let's get back to the purpose of this post :)Today's recipes are:
1. Coconut chutney - Recipe from my Amma.
2. Coconut Kadhi- Recipe by Tarla Dalal, book: Curries and Kadhis

Recipe for Coconut chutney:
Ingredients:
1 tbsp- Udad dal
1 small bowl- Grated coconut
1 pinch- Hing
2-Red chillies
1 small piece- Tamarind
Salt to taste
Tempering:
1tsp- Mustard seeds
5-6 Curry leaves
1tsp oil
Method:
1. Dry fry the udad dal, red chillies till it gives out nice aroma. Put the flame off and add hing.
2. Once the ingredients cool, grind it along with coconut, tamarind and salt adding water to get desired consitency.
3. Transfer it to a serving bowl.
4. Heat oil in a tempering pan add mustard seeds and curry leBlockquoteaves, when they begin to pop put off the flame, and pour it over the chutney and mix well.
5. The tasty coconut-udad dal chutney is ready to be served.
Coconut Kadhi:

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 tbsp besan (Bengal gram flour)
3/4 cup fresh curds
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1" stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
6 curry leaves
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp chopped green chillies
1/2 tsp red chilli powder ( my addition)
1tsp sugar ( my addition)
salt to taste
Method:
1. Add the besan to the curds beat well and set it aside.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and curry leaves.
3. When the curry leaves splutter, add the ginger and green chilli and stir for a few seconds.
4. Add the coconut milk and 1 cup of water and bring it to boil, while stirring continuously.
5. Add the besan -curd mixture , salt and mix well. Simmer on a low flame till the kadhi thickens while stirring continuoulsy.
6. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

53 comments:

Rekha shoban said...

hi suparna,how ru? its look nice.

Chitra said...

Both the dishes are yummy.I too have posted a coconut based gravy :) This chutney my mom makes but we add garlic instead of hing.Try that too ..I like that chutney very much.I'll try this..Kadhi is also new to me..Luv to try dishes with buttermilk,Will do this & let u know :)

sangeeta said...

coconut is not bad dear ...
there is loads of research that this is the most nutritious n healing food...but as it is high calorie , off course moderation is the key.
i love curries n chutneys made with it like these ones but we should always avoid those coconut chips and coconut mithais available so very easily around us.right processing of the coconut plays a big role .

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Both looks yummy Suparna.

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

Coconut chutney looks very tempting with iddlies..I think I can consume a dozens with your chutney

Priya Suresh said...

COconut kadhi and chutney looks very delicious..Kadhi is completely a new dish for me dear..

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow.....coconut kadhi is new to me...looks appetizing..... coconut chutney is my all time favourite....Congrats on promotion and Iam exited to see u in Bangalore.....

Sushma Mallya said...

looks delicious suparna...loved the kadi, thats really new and i must try it soon...

Sanghi said...

Good that you are settled in bangalore..! Lovely coconut recipe!

Unknown said...

Both the dishes looks so lovely, i love coconut and add it in moderation to my everyday cooking.

Sudeshna said...

I love the coconut chatni so much. Its one fo the few South Indian dishes that I love, thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

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Finla said...

I have neve rhad kadhai with coconut, i would love to taste this.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

I love coconut too but I am scared of it for the cholestrol... But the key is moderation...
Looks lovely as usual. I love curd based dishes too...

Soma said...

my hubby;s favorite chutney with dosa.:-)

Good luck with your move... & be happy at home!! lucky you.

Soma(www.ecurry.com)

Sharmila said...

Coconut gives a lot of fibre to our diet too. Love coconut chutney anyday ... I even have it with bread.:-)

Vani said...

Coconut milk kadhi sounds really good, Suparna! I have only added ural dal as a tadka in the chutney. Will try this out next time.

Indrani said...

both looks delish..coconut is my favorite, I love to use it everywhere possible, coconut in moderation is ok, but never use coconut oil in cooking, it has the highest percentage of saturated fat..thanks for your sweet words, Su

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Delicious chutney and Kadhi, both the recipes are superb!

Cham said...

Coconut kadhi sounds yummy :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

I too rediced my coconut intake recently...but after reading so many posts about coconut, I started eating them again...nothing can beat the taste of coconut chutney with idlis :) Both the chutney and kadhi looks very tasty Suparna :)

Padma said...

Coconut chutney and kadhi looks yummm... love chutney with any tiffin items... kadhi is something new... will try out sometime... thanks for sharing Suparna :)

Ammu said...

Lovely dishes. There is something waiting for you in my blog. Plz collect it dear.

Shri said...

I love the Coconut chutney,and never tried the Kadhi!But they look very tempting Suparna!
I have heard that Coconut is bad but then someone recently was telling me the dry coconut is bad but the fresh/fresh frozen coconut is not bad after all!
I do believe moderation is the key too but hey how can you stop such delicious food as yours:D

Priya Narasimhan said...

both are too good..your amma's recipe for chutney is same as my amma's. :-)on;y extra thing we add is roasted channa dal.

Purva Desai said...

Congrats on ur promotion.......chutney looks rich with loads of coconut and yummy flavours

Anu said...

Coconut kadhi and chutney looks very delicious and yummy.... Kadhi is completely a new dish for me...

Anonymous said...

i never knew u can put tamarind in coconut chutney..and coconut kadhi is an all new dish for me!

Anonymous said...

At my parents place too we make curries only of coconut! Even for some dry veg preparations we sprinkle coconut on top :) The coconut kadhi is a novel idea for me. Looks really delicious!

Savi-Ruchi said...

Seriously Suparna.., there were days when I couldnot prepare a dish without coconut. I was soo much addicted to it. Now a days, I once a while try to cook without coconut. However.., I personally love coconut based dishes. I love both the coconut delicacies you have prepared.

Aps Kitchen said...

Coconut curry seems interesting will try it for sure :)

indhu said...

yummy coconut chutney... I too love coconut and add it to every south Indian dish I make... Good luck with the move :)

- Indhu (www.thayirsaadham.com)

Varsha Vipins said...

True da..We cant do without coconut at all..I make thorans n then for gravies we need ground coconut..I have never given much of a thought about it..:P..mebe in future if I start to put on , I'll..all those yum dishes dear..:)
hugs

Parita said...

Coconut chutney looks fantastic..coconut kadhi is something new to me and loved it..def will be trying soon, will let u know :)

Urmi said...

I love coconut chutney very much. Whenever I take idli or dosa then coconut chutney is must. I will definitely try out your lovely recipe.

Jyoti said...

Coconut kadhi is so new to me, looks great and I am tempted to try this soon!

Bong Mom said...

Dear Suparna
Sorry for not visiting often. I see that you underwent a lot of bad & good in the past few days. Hope your brother is feeling well now. Congrats to S for his promotion and all the best for the move.

Lena Jayadev said...

hai Suparna....this is a wonderful post dear...easy and healthy recipe..surely i wl try this.. :)

Jaya M said...

Suparna,
i love coconut chutney with dosa and never had coconut kadhi though...hope you have settled well in new place...i also get nervous ,sometimes when my hubby says "it's time to move" :)....
hugs and smiles

Deepthi Shankar said...

coconut kadhi sounds definitely inviting .. I love the flavor of coconut

Saritha said...

I too love coconut flavour but i avoid making it as hubby family has a history of high cholestrol.

LifenSpice said...

so true, I too cant do without coconut:) Loved that kadi recipe with coconut.

LifenSpice said...

so true, I too cant do without coconut:) Loved that kadi recipe with coconut.

Sushma Mallya said...

I have an award for u pls come and collect it from my blog :)

Urmi said...

Please accept your award from my blog.

Usha said...

Never tried coconut kadhi, sounds fantastic, a must try....

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Anonymous said...

You are absolutely right suparna. Giving up on coconut for good is like a nightmare. Eating in right proportion, sounds like a pleasant dream

Suganya said...

Nice recipe. Looks so good. YUM!

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Happy diwali to you and your family dear Suparna, may this diwali light up your life with prosperity and lots of happiness!!!

Sushma Mallya said...

Hi suparna..how r u doing? i hope everything is fine..didnt c u in our blogging world for quiet someitme now....anyways wish u and ur family a very happy & a prosperous diwali,hope it brings u lots of happiness and luck,have a great time with ur loved ones,enjoy and take care

Anonymous said...

Wish You a Very happy Diwali Suparna :) Have fun!

gtyuk said...

thenga chutney is my favourite one! hope to see you back soon!

kathy gori said...

I stumbled across your blog, how wonderful! The coconut chutney recipe is just what I've been looking for.