Goan Red Coconut Chutney

The Goan Red Coconut Chutney is not as popular as the Green Chutney (click here for the green version) and was used as a substitute for curry. And since it was not liquid – like a curry, it used to be popular to carry in a picnic basket or while travelling. It was an accompaniment to rice and served with boiled eggs or a variety of cutlets, potato chops, etc. ( My m-i-l calls this chutney an aaden, which is basically a ground masala used to make curries) The Goan Red Coconut Chutney is a milder version of the curry masala paste and does not involve any cooking except for the roasting of the onion. Follow this recipe to make a small and quick quantity of the Goan Red Coconut Chutney.

Ingredients:

[ Standard Measure – 1 cup = 250 ml.]

• Coconut (freshly grated) – 1 cup
• Dry Red Chillies [Bedgi] – 2
• Dry Red Chillies [Kashmiri] – 2 to 3
• Garlic – 3 cloves
• Ginger – ½ inch
• Onion – 1 small
• Corriander Seeds – 2 tsp.
• Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp.
• Turmeric – a pinch
• Tamarind – 1 big marble sized ball (soaked in ¼ cup warm water)
• Sugar – 2 tsp. or to taste
• Salt – 1 tsp. or to taste

Step 1:     Take the unskinned onion and pierce it with a fork. Hold the fork and roast the onion over an open flame till charred (the skin will burn out and turn black and the inner petals will turn soft). Peel off the charred skin and quarter the onion and separate the petals.

Step 2:     Pulp and strain the tamarind. Take the onion and all the other ingredients, including the tamarind water and grind together to a fine paste using short bursts of 20 seconds or so (so that the ingredients do not heat up). Depending on the weather, the chutney should stay good for 6 to 8 hours if stored in a cool place. Alternately, you can store the chutney in the refrigerator and it should stay good for a week if stored properly.