Coconut Garlic Chutney

This chutney is the perfect companion for idlis (steamed rice cakes), dosas and uttapams (south Indian rice pancakes).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh coconut grated
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 2 dry red chilies
• 7-8 curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsps oil

Method:

• Grind the coconut, garlic, 4-5 curry leaves and green chilies into a fine paste in the food processor.
• In a small pan, heat the oil; when hot add the mustard seeds; when they stop spluttering, fry urad dal until they are dark in color. Now add curry leaves and dry red chilies. Fry till the red chilies turn dark in color.
• Remove from the fire and add to the coconut paste.
• Add salt to taste and serve with Idli or Dosa or Upma.

Do You Know?
The smell of garlic is caused by allicin (diallyldisulfide-S-oxide), which is derived from precursors such as alliin (S-allyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide) by the enzyme alliinase which is liberated when the clove is broken up. The active compound resembles the well known drug N-acetyl-L-cysteine (Mucomyst), which has mucolytic and antioxidant properties.

Tips:

To remove the garlic odor from your hands when working with garlic, wash hands thoroughly and then rub over some stainless steel device (it can be a faucet or stainless steel sink surface). Stainless steel contains the mineral nickel, which acts as a neutralizer for the garlic odor.