If you are a typical Non resident Keralite like me you would have often ended up carrying coconuts from home to your metro city. And you would also have abandoned them feeling lazy to scrape them and eventually let them dry. It happens always to me and when the coconut dries up and detaches it from the shell grating it on the conventional stool with grater we call 'Chirava' becomes difficult. I resort to using a conventional grater then. But the coconut is so hard it does not serve the purposes I have in mind like lacing it on veg curries or getting adequate amount of coconut milk for fish curries. So I use this recipe. Though traditionally this chutney is made smoking, grilling coconut pieces in chunk I grate coconut and fry it with other ingredients so it's roasted on pan. There's something about roasted coconut that melts my heart though I am no coconut fan usually. I never take the pain to scrape coconut so my dishes are mostly without them. But, this chutney is close to me. It reminds me of my home. For lenten season this is the best accompaniment with Kanji(gruel), pappad and some veggies.
Ingredients for Thenga aracha Chammandi
Coconut- 1 grated
Dry chillies- 4-6
Shallots- 6-8
Tamarind- size of a lemon
Curry leaves- 1 stalk
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Salt- 1 tsp
Directions
Roast all the ingredients except salt and tamarind in a pan till coconut turns brown.
Let the ingredients cool and grind it with little water in a wet grinder. Add the tamarind extract and salt and the chutney is ready.
Serve with rice or gruel.
Labels: Chutneys, Kerala dishes, Lenten cuisine, Veg curries
