Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

Fresh grated coconut - 2 cups
Green chillies - 3-4 (depending on spice level)
Cilantro (kottambari soppu) - 1 bunch
Hurigadale (Split Dhalia dal) - 1/4 cup
Tamarind paste - 2 tsp or lemon sized ball of tamarind pulp

For oggarane or tadka:

oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - just a pinch
Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves

Preparation:

1. Grind all the ingredients with 1 cup of water into slightly coarse paste.
2. In a wok, heat oil for tadka. Add mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Then add the other tadka ingredients and fry for a few seconds till urad dal turns light brown.
3. Add the tadka to the ground paste. Add salt to taste and mix well.

Add more water if needed.

Alternatives:

1. Instead of cilantro, you can use a bunch of mint leaves (pudina) for mint chutney.
2. If you do not have hurigadale at home, you can use Channa dal (kadle bele) and Urad dal (uddina bele) as follows. Fry 1/2 cup Channa dal and 1/4 cup Urad dal in a tsp of oil till medium roast (Channa dal turns slightly brown in color and starts giving out a nice aroma). Cool and then grind it with other ingredients.
3. If you need more spice for the chutney, add 1-2 dry red chillies (broken into small pieces) to the tadka.