Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Chana Dal Chutney (With Coconut) is a vegetarian South Indian side dish made with chana dal, shredded coconut, and dried red chili in about 15 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup chana dal
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut (fresh/frozen)
  • 4 dried red chili ((Bydagi or Kashmiri))
  • 1 stalk curry leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic (optional)
  • 1 small marble size tamarind
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • salt (to taste)
  • water ((as required for grinding))

For Tempering

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon urad dal
  • few curry leaves
  • 1 dried red chilli ((broken))

Method

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in an iron skillet and roast chana dal on a medium-low flame till the dal turns golden brown. Remove and let it cool down.
  2. Then add dry red chilies, curry leaves, and garlic and saute till the red chilies puff up. Cool completely.
  3. Transfer the sauteed ingredients into a blender and add shredded coconut, tamarind, and salt. Add water as required and blend to make a smooth paste.
  4. Now for tempering, heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, and allow mustard to crackle and urad dal to turn light brown.
  5. Then add red chili, hing, curry leaves and saute for few seconds. Pour over the chutney and mix it well. Enjoy chana dal chutney with dosa or idli.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.