Jollimama's Coconut Chutney

I have always made coconut chutney Mummy's way as she was the one to teach me how to make the coconut chutney which goes so well with both Idlis and Dosas. After mum passed away, Jollimama (my Dad's sister) came to stay and helped us a great deal! Loved having her with us. She has such a comforting voice and her presence helped us a lot.

At the time, I learnt how to make her version of the coconut chutney which included the addition of small onions/shallots/pearl onions ('Kunjulli '<Malayalam>) , popularly known as sambar onions in India. Mum did use small onions when available or even the normal pink/purple onions (Allium cepa). Jollimama also advised to grind some of the curry leaves while grinding the pearl onions, so that is what added so much flavour to the chutney. Besides that the make was similar to Mum's make.

You need: 

• 2 cups of coconut gratings
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves -  1 sprig
• Ginger - 1", chopped
• 1-2 green chilies (depending on how spicy you would like it)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp of oil
• Drinking water - a tad bit*

The Make:
Preparation Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Serves on the side approximately of 20 idlis or 12 dosas

1. Grind the coconut gratings, salt, half a sprig of curry leaves, ginger and the green chili well.
2. In a deep bottomed pot/pan, add the oil and splutter  the mustard seeds. Add the remaining curry leaves and fry on medium heat.
3. Next add in the ground coconut mixture on low heat and allow to cook. Clean out the grinder with a tad bit of drinking water, enough to form a thick gravy*, taking care not to add too much water which will ruin the consistency and flavour.
4. Add the water to the ground coconut mix. Turn off the heat when the chutney warms up. Do not bubble away which would split the chutney.

Serve warm on the side of idlis or dosas.

Enjoy!! :)

Coconut-Carrot Rice

Ah such a comforting meal we just shared with Dad who is in town. This recipe came out from two recipes, one from my sis-in-law Bhavna and the other from the Thai Coconut rice that I had shared. I tweaked the latter a bit more with the toasted coconut gratings. It was amazing. Just goes to show that if you put a little bit of love in the cook, it comes out unexpectedly amazing. The rice was nice and fluffy too. I am sure that Mum would have loved it and plus the texture was exactly as she enjoys it -not mushy at all.

You need:

• 1 cup of fresh coconut gratings or 1 cup of coconut cream
• Salt to taste
• 2 cups of basmati rice / long grained rice, cleaned and set aside in bowl with water to soak
• 2 cups of boiling hot water
• 3-4 large carrots, grated
• 1 tbsp of butter (optional)
• 2 drizzles of oil

The Make:
Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes | Serves 3 adults

1. Grind the coconut to take the first milk and second milk (Refer Coconut Milk recipe here). Set aside the gratings from milk extracted coconut.
2. In a large wok, drizzle some oil and saute the residual coconut gratings until lightly browned. Set aside.
3. In the same wok, add a little oil and fry the carrot gratings on medium-low heat. Sprinkle some salt to taste. Saute for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add a tbsp of butter and then lower heat. Add in the second extraction of the coconut milk and the boiling hot water to the wok.
5. Once the water reaches boil point, add the cleaned rice from the soaking bowl, a fistful at a time.
6. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the first milk. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Check in between to see if the rice is not sticking to the wok. In the last few minutes before turning off the heat, top with the toasted coconut gratings.
7. Fluff the rice with a fork a and transfer to a serving bowl once cooked.

Serve hot with your favourite gravy. For us it was Pepper Chicken Drumstick in a light tomato gravy and Cucumber Raitha.

Bon Appetit! "This is what's for dinner tonight folks!"