Coconut~Ginger~Bimbul Chutney.

“Coconut~Ginger~Bimbul (Tree Sorrel) Chutney” … A delicious Snow White Chutney that goes very well with dosa, idly, goli bajo, Vadas, bajia, chettambado … The addition of bimbul instead of tamarind while grinding enhances the taste of the chutney ... Yummilicious …

** South Indians are all partial toward Snow White Coconut Chutney served along with dosa or idly. It is always a pleasure to dunk dosa or idly pieces into coconut chutney and savor the same. There are so many variations in the preparation of chutney that each one has their own method and recipe of preparing the same. As all of you are aware South Indians are very fond of coconut and use it in many forms. I am no different. It would not be wrong if I said we Konkani Saraswat’s simply do not know to cook much without addition of coconut. Even a little amount of freshly grated coconut goes a long way in chutney or gravies. It not only gives a good texture or bulk to the dish but the taste is simply awesome. I have many a times on insistence of some of my friends used onion based gravies, but it never ever gave me the satisfaction my dear coconut gives. If you go through my Blog dishes, you will find that I have tweaked many North Indian dishes by adding a little bit of coconut while grinding. 

** For the past decades or so, It has been worldwide rumored that coconut is not good to health as it is high cholesterol and is not good for health. Doctors too ask patients to curtail its usage. Suddenly in the last few years, the west has concluded that not only coconut even coconut oil is good for health and that it has good cholesterol content in it. Now that is a decision I leave it entire to you. It is upto each individual to make food choices depending upon their family likes, dislikes etc. I can speak only for myself. Yes, it does add on weight but so does the onion fried in oil for gravy. I am no nutrition expert and do not wish to mess up any ideas promoted by them, coz. my knowledge is zero. However, I know for sure that my mother, my grandmother, and my great grandmother all used them well and lived beyond the age of 80 yrs with a fit and healthy life. Somewhere, It is actually the lack of activity and sedentary lifestyle or overeating habits that actually leads to unhealthy lifestyle. 

** Moving to coconut chutney, I have already blogged in many variations and there are many that will keep following. There are so many ingredients with which chutney’s can be prepared but the base is mostly coconut or sometimes some veggie. But frankly nothing beats the taste of freshly ground coconut chutney served with dosa or idly. Specially dosas taste the best with chutney while for Idly I prefer sambar. Again, snow white colored chutney fascinates me a lot. I have come across many eateries where the chutney served is super white and I simply love it. I have also posted the same before. You may use the search option for chutney where you will find several recipes, you can try out and relish with your family. The trick to keeping the chutney snow white is by adding the tamarind in very minute quantity and using of light colored green chillies sparingly. This chutney remained more white as I used frozen bimbul instead of tamarind and the taste of the chutney is enhanced with the flavor of bimbul as it imparts a different type of tartness 

Ingredients : 

Coconut : 1 cup freshly grated white part of the coconut only. 

Bimbul / Tree Sorrel fruit : 2 medium sized cut to pieces. 

Green Chillies : 3-4 cut to pieces. 

Ginger : 1 inch piece cut into pieces. 

Salt to taste. 

For Tempering : (Optional) 

Urad Dal / Black Gram Dal : ½ tsp 

Mustard Seeds / Rai / Sasam : 1/2 tsp 

Curry Leaves : 5-7 fresh one’s. 

Coconut Oil : 1 tsp. 

** Wash, Clean and Chop ginger into fine pieces. Also, wash, slice off the edges of the bimbul and cut them into 3-4 pieces. Chop the green chillies into small pieces. 

** Note : I have used the less spicy variety of green chillies. If you are using spicy one’s reduce the amount of chillies. Addition of green chillies is exclusively upto the individual taste. So do check the chutney and add more if necessary as the addition of ginger in larger quantity than in other chutney will also add on to the spice level. Again, I have added frozen bimbul, you may add fresh one’s too. 

** Add all the above chopped ingredients into a mixer grinder and grind to a very smooth paste with very little water. Do not add in much water; keep adding on as you grind and as the need arises. The chutney should be ground into a smooth texture. Remove the chutney in a bowl add salt to taste and mix well. If the chutney is too thick, you can add some water and mix it properly. 

** For Tempering : Heat the coconut oil in a small pan, when hot, lower the heat and add in the urad dal, when they turn slightly in color immediately add in mustard seeds and they begin to splutter add in the curry leaves, fry for a few seconds. Remove and pour this over the chutney and cover with a lid immediately. 

** Note : Tempering this chutney is optional, so is using of coconut oil. You can use any oil of your choice or you may skip off this step and not season / temper the chutney. It tastes equally good. I sometimes temper and sometimes don’t specially for coriander chutney. But having said that tempering the chutney imparts awesome flavor and my hubby loves it, so I do the same. 

** “Coconut~Ginger~Bimbul Chutney” is done and ready to be served. Best when served with dosa, idly, goli bajo etc. but the same can be served with chapati, parathas too. Though it is always preferable to prepare and use chutney fresh, but if you are in a tight schedule you can prepare the same and put it immediately into freezer and remove 30-40 mins before serving to bring to room temperature too. Though personally I do not recommend it, with changing times and mounting pressures a housewife needs these luxuries of preparing things in advance. 

** You can use the search option for "Chutney" where you will get many more dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of dishes to relish with dosa / Idly / roti etc. or with dal-chawal too. Enjoy the dishes with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you.