Homemade Chutney Powder
A coarse powder made with lentils and spices, eaten as a side dish doused in sesame oil as a condiment along with idlis and dosas.
Ingredients
For Roasting
- 1 cup Chana Dal
- 1 cup Copra
- 1/2 cup Split Urad Dal white
- 12-15 pieces Byadagi Red Chillies reduce for a less spicy version
- 10 gm Tamarind lime sized
- 1 tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tbsp Rock Salt
- 4 tsps Jaggery Powder or more if you want sweeter
Instructions
Prep Work
- Measure and keep all ingredients aside separately. It is advisable not to mix all the ingredients and roast them together, since each ingredient takes different time to get properly roasted.
- Remove the stems of the red chillies.
- If you do not have dry coconut / copra / desiccated coconut - you can make your own by cutting fresh coconut into tiny pieces, roasting them on a low flame until the coconut shrivels and you feel like the moisture is out. Dry coconut contains no moisture thereby adding to the shelf life of the chutney powder.
How to make Homemade Chutney Powder
- Place a pan on medium -low heat and let it warm up. Add Chana dal and roast it until golden brown. This process should take around 5 minutes. Once done, transfer the roasted chana dal to a large plate for it to cool down.
- Keep the pan back on the flame, roast the urad dal next, until golden brown. Roasting urad dal will take less than 5 minutes. Transfer the Urad dal to the same plate as the chana dal.
- Next, roast the dry chillies: you know they are well roasted when the chillies puff up and make a scratchy/crunchy noise when roasting it. Once done, transfer to the same plate.
- Now add the dry coconut into the pan for a light roast. Dry coconut will roast quite quickly, so do not move away from the pan. Once you see that the copra/dry coconut is slightly brown, switch off the flame, add the asafoetida powder and give it all a good mix. The powder will roast in the residual heat. Transfer the dry coconut to a separate plate and allow to cool down.
- Once all the roasted items have cooled down, add the roasted dals and red chillies to the mixer first. Grind until you get an almost smooth powder. Next, add the roasted dry coconut along with the powdered jaggery and salt.
- Grind it to a fine consistency. Spread the homemade chutney powder on the plate and let it cool down. Once cool, store this brilliant chutney powder in an airtight container.
Notes
Storage: Store the freshly ground chutney powder in an air-tight container on the shelf. If you plan to make large quantities, it is best to store them in a zip lock bag in the fridge and take out as much quantity as needed.
Shelf Life: The shelf life of chutney powder is around two months. It will lose its freshness and taste after two months. It will technically not go bad, but it's better not to eat stale chutney powder.