Couple of weeks back, I suddenly wanted to make dry coconut chutney powder at home. I have to confess that I do have these kind of cravings out of nowhere.  As it happened, we were at the super market and I got home a big piece of dry coconut or copra. Immediately I set out to make the chutney powder, basically following my gut instincts. My dad helped me in chopping the copra/dry coconut powder into small pieces and Amma was with me helping me roast the ingredients. Yes, we involve ourselves as a family in our cooking stunts 😀 This is one of the easiest side dishes that would go well with South Indian breakfast recipes as well as with rotis. With just few ingredients, I had half a dabba full of chutney powder which is almost getting over now! Talks about how good it turned out, isnt it? This is the first time I wanted to add some tamarind to my chutney powder as I felt that the coconut and tanginess would go together. It was a big hit, as expected. My next chutney powder recipe is calling out to me now 😀 Check out the other chutneys and chutney powder recipes on this blog!

  1. In a pan, dry roast urad dal until golden brown. Remove it on to a plate. Dry roast chana dal until golden brown and remove it onto a plate as well.
  2. In the same pan, dry roast the red chillies for 3-4 mins until the sides of it start to turn deep red. Remove it on to a plate. Switch off the heat and add the ball of tamarind to the hot pan. Let it stay there for 3-4 mins.
  3. Let all the ingredients cool down completely. In a mixer jar, add chopped dry coconut and blend until smooth/fine. Remove it on to a bowl. Blend rest of the ingredients – urad dal, chana dal, dried red chillies, asafoetida, tamarind and salt into a smooth powder. Let it rest for 2-3 mins.
  4. Add the powdered coconut into the blender and pulse for few moments until everything is mixed well.
  5. Store in an airtight container. Stays fresh for about two weeks when a dry spoon is used.

Chop the dry cocnut into small pieces and grind it fine. No need to roast or fry them. Tamarind is optional if you don’t like the slight tanginess to the chutney powder. Heating the tamarind helps in easy grinding. Can use a few drops of oil while dry roasting the red chillies to avoid excessive smoke. Increase/decrease the number of red chillies as per spice preferences. Dry coconut can release oil while blending – no need to worry.