Coconut chutney and dosas are a match made in heaven! Coconut Chutney is a quintessential South Indian condiment that pairs amazingly with south Indian breakfast and snack items like Idli, Dosa and others. Here I share a classic coconut chutney recipe with a spice tempering. Learn how to make this south Indian side dish with my easy-to-follow video as well! This is an addictive condiment and I bet you will keep coming back for more.
What is Coconut Chutney?
Chutneys are a type of dips/condiments that originates in India and can be made from a variety of different ingredients like coconut, peanut, tomato , coriander, tamarind, onion etc. All of these delicious savory dips and sauces are used to enhance the experience of meals.
Coconut chutney originated from the south India and has different versions from different parts of south India. It is most often served with breakfast or with snacks.
How to make Coconut Chutney
The easiest way to make it is by finely grinding fresh white coconut meat with either green chillie peppers or dry red chilie peppers and adding salt to it.
Chillie peppers lend a bit of heat and flavour in the chutney. Garlic or ginger are also added for more depth of flavour. The final tempering of oil with crackled mustard seeds, dried red chilli peppers, some shallots, fresh (or dried) curry leaves and brings more flavor to otherwise plain coconut chutney. One can also add fried urad dal (black gram) and hing (asafoetida) for more depth in flavour.
Substitutions and tips
Coconut: You can sub with roasted peanuts and make a peanut chutney. You can also just use rehydrated dessiccated coconut but it wont be the same.
Tempering: As mentioned before, tempering can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish it to be. You can skip out whatever is not available to you.
Shallots: Shallots have a more subtle taste, so if you want to replace it with red onions then make sure to par-cook it on a skillet before blending it into the chutney to avoid a stron onion-y taste
How can I store coconut chutney?
Just store it in an air tight jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen. Make sure to take it out of the freezer and place it in the fridge the night prior to usage.
I hope you give this easy south Indian chutney a go and let me know! You are going to love it, I am sure of it!
Other chutneys and from the blog:
- Beetroot Coconut Chutney
- Tamarind Chutney
- Vegan Raita
- Mint Corriander Chutney
- Spicy Red Kaara Chutney
- Tomato Onion chutney
Homemade Coconut Chutney
Ingredients1x2x3x
- Base:
- 1 cup grated Coconut
- 2 shallots
- 1 knob ginger
- 2-3 green chilli as per taste
- ½-1 tsp to taste
- ½ cup water
- Tempering:
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 shallot chopped
- 1 dried red chilli
- 7-8 curry leaves
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients for the base and set aside.
- Heat oil on medium heat and add the ingredients for tempering.
- Once everything smells fragrant and crunchy (around 2-3 minutes), add this tempering to the blended chutney base.
- Serve the chutney and serve with dosas or idlis.
Enjoy this South Indian treat and follow @beextravegant for more delicious recipes!!
Here’s your chance to savour the last few weeks of summer with this easy vegan Kulfi. Kulfi is an Indian and Pakistani summer treat that has been helping people get through the sultry days of the south Asian countries. It’s sweet, creamy, rich in flavor, and, of course, DELICIOUS! What more do you need?
What is Kulfi?
Kulfi is commonly referred to as the Indian ice-cream. It is a traditional frozen dessert served in the south Asian region especially in India as a summer dish. You can often find these in many street shops or Indian restaurants with a variety of flavours to choose from, like Kesar (saffron), Pistachio, Mango, and the classic flavour Malai (cream) Kulfi.
History of Kulfi or Qulfi
The Kulfi, or ‘Qulfi’ in Persian, was a 16th-century recipe gifted from the Mughal Empire to the rest of the sub-continent and is now famously known as Kulfi. It was traditionally made with heavy cow’s milk, sugar, nuts, and cardamom, and was stored in metal molds or cones. These cones were then immersed in an insulated container of ice and salt, and then served fresh. But nowadays, you can find them in a variety of flavours ranging from Kesar (saffron), Pistachio, Mango, to even trendy ones like chocolate.
Kulfi is often called the healthier version of ice cream, but here’s your chance to make a better and even healthier version of Kulfi – vegan, of course. This Easy Vegan Kulfi is the perfect way to get those ice-cream cravings satiated without any guilt.
Inspiration for vegan kulfi
Kulfi holds a very special place in my heart. I come from a hot tropical country and summers get real sultry over there. After school, one could find many street vendors with their kulfi carts, selling chilled kulfi to the students for as cheap as it can get. In my opinion, that’s the best way to beat the heat and get some cool on. Although I love the weather in France, I sometimes miss the weather back home and wished I could savor a kulfi or two. So, to bring back a little bit of home into my cooking I thought why not make some yummy, creamy, easy vegan Kulfi.
How to make Vegan Kulfi (Tips and tricks)
As mentioned before, kulfi is made with heavy milk, sugar, and flavorings. The idea is to evaporate the milk to make it into a thick, cream-like consistency before adding in the nuts and freezing it. The traditional way of making kulfi requires a lot of time to simmer the milk, and to reduce it until thickened. In our Easy Vegan Kulfi, we are aiming to save a lot of time and use plant-based ingredients that won’t change the traditional taste or flavor of the kulfi.
Spices
After bringing the coconut and soy milk to a boil, add the crushed cardamom to give it a spicy, and herbal flavor. Try and stick to the measurements, for now, once you get a hang of it, you can eyeball the ingredients.
Other spices you can add: Saffron
Nuts
While adding the almonds, keep in mind how coarse you would like the powder to be. Some like their kulfis crunchy, so they prefer keeping bigger bits of crushed almonds. It is totally up to you.
Note: For nut allergies, you can skip out the nuts altogether. Make sure to add more fatty coconut milk in that case.
Binder
The next important step is to form the slurry with corn starch and soy milk. Alternatively, if you don’t have corn starch , you could also add arrowroot powder to thicken the mixture quickly. Here I have used corn starch although both work perfectly fine. Once the slurry is prepared, add it to the base mix and stir continuously till it thickens to a lovely cream-like consistency.
Setting the vegan kulfi
Now all you have to do is cool it in molds. It’s advised to keep the molds in the freezer for approximately 4-5 hours, depending on the cool setting on your refrigerator. If you are unsure, do a taste test on one of the molds and take a call.
And voilà! Your Easy Vegan Kulfi is now ready to be demolished.
Check out other desserts from my page:
- Healthy Vegan Laddoos
- Vegan Cardamom Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Best Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)
Vegan Almond Cardamom Kulfi (Indian Ice cream)
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 cups soy or any other plant milk
- 5-6 cardamom pods (shelled and crushed)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 25 almonds
- 2 tsp corn starch
Instructions
- Mix 1 cup full-fat coconut milk with 1 cup soy milk. Bring these two to boil.
- Add crushed cardamom and continue to stir over high heat.
- Simmer for 10 – 12 minutes then add the sugar.
- Simmer for another 10 minutes until thick and creamy.
- Blitz the almonds into a coarse powder. (You can make it into a fine powder if you wish) and add it to the base mix.
- While the base mix simmers, mix corn starch with a cup of soy milk to form a slurry.
- Add these two – almonds and the slurry to the base mix and turn the heat off.
- Let it cool and pour them into your favorite popsicle molds.
- Freeze for at least 4-5 hours or overnight.
- Optionally, sprinkle with pistachios right before serving and enjoy!
Or watch it here:
View this post on Instagram
This Mango Cardamom nice cream is the perfect healthy dessert to replace your regular heavy ice cream. Relish this simple, easy-to-make recipe when you have those dessert or ice-cream cravings. It’s easy to whip up and you can make it in no time.
DISCLAIMER:@coconutbowls are affiliate partners for this blog, which means if you purchase or sign up using the code on their website, then @beextravegant will get a tiny percentage in return. Would really appreciate the support. Thanks for supporting me! 🙂
Ummm, what’s Nice Cream?
Nice cream is very different from regular ice cream. For starters it’s called nice cream because a) it’s nicer for your health b) it’s made with frozen fruits (not heavy cream) and c) it’s vegan since we’re not adding any animal-based milk. And anything vegan by default tops our charts because caring for the animals and the environment is our utmost priority.
Nice Cream was first used to describe a soft-serve type ice cream, where instead of heavy cream, chunks of frozen fruits were blended and gave it a rich custard-like consistency. Eventually, when people realized the health benefits of having this naturally sweetened dessert, the demand for it has blown up considerably.
If you want to get your hands on these gorgeous coconut bowls by @coconutbowls, use my code “BEEXTRAVEGANT10” to get 10% off.
This mango cardamom nice cream came out of me discovering a bag of frozen mangoes in my freezer and decided on making this quick-as-a-flash recipe because sometimes I need to chill out.
Also, if you’re wondering about these cute little bowls and spoons in the pictures above, Coconut bowls gifted me their handmade coconut bowl and spoon. Hence, I took that as the perfect excuse to relax and enjoy a nice flavorful nice cream in these beautiful, eco-friendly bowls.
Inspiration for Mango Cardamom Nice Cream
Did you know that India is the number one mango-producing country in the world where we produce over 18 million tonnes or in other words – 50% of the global mango supply. Isn’t that crazy?
Mangoes and I have long-existing chemistry, and there is no way I will give up a chance to incorporate mangoes in my recipes. Mango season is the time when my true love for this fruit overpowers logic and reasoning. Sipping on a good Mango Lassi (viz. a cold blend of yogurt, spices, sweetener, and fruits) on a hot summer’s day is absolute heaven. You would know what I am saying if you have experienced that bliss in a glass. Check out how I make my Mango Lassi .
So, for this particular recipe, I decided to give it a twist of my own – make it into a Mango Cardamom Nice Cream.
Why Nice Cream, you ask?
Well, regular ice cream requires heavy-duty or powerful ice cream machines, long processing hours, and, let’s not forget the sugar overdose in each scoopful. On the flip side, Nice cream needs blending frozen fruit until smooth with a few tablespoons of maple or agave syrup (if you have a sweet-tooth but otherwise the fructose in the fruits is enough to satiate the need). How easy does that sound? It’s an absolutely no-nonsense dish and ready-to-eat, as long as you have a bunch of fruits frozen in your freezer. Even if you don’t have a stock of frozen fruit, you could always freeze some overnight.
Many prefer having this over regular ice cream due to the ease in whipping this up. The best part is you can experiment with different fruits, depending on how creamy they get after freezing. You can get that soft-serve-like consistency by using and balancing out the thickness with extra plant milk. For example, bananas become really creamy after being frozen and are the perfect partner in making the best smoothies and milkshakes. Similarly, you can use any fruit that you like, not necessarily mangoes. Here I have chosen mangoes to satisfy my cravings and obsession with these tropical fruits. But it’s up to you to jazz it up with the fruit of your choice.
How to make Mango Cardamom Nice Cream (Tips and tricks)
Fruits
I froze the mangoes in my freezer well before the cooking time. The trick is to keep a batch of frozen fruits – ready to go. An easy way to keep a stock of frozen fruits ready in your freezer would be to cut fresh fruits into chunks and freeze them in airtight containers. Alternatively, you could freeze them in a ziplock bag by pressing out all the air and sealing it shut. Fruits can be stored up to 6-9 months in the freezer if done the right way. Now that you have a stock of frozen fruit ready, all you need to do is find that auspicious day when your Nice Cream cravings are at a peak point.
Spices
My advice would be to keep a stock of cardamom powder if you are a regular consumer like me. It’s easy to prepare, all you have to do is to shell the cardamom, crush them into a fine powder and store it in an air-tight container (so that the powder does not lose the flavour and potency to oxidization). This will last you upto 4 years if stored properly.
Plant-milk for consistency
Frozen milk cubes are the key to incorporating that frothy, ice-cream-like consistency in our Mango cardamom nice cream. Instead of adding chilled plant-milk, we are using milk cubes will make the nice cream colder and creamier. You can keep a batch of frozen plant milk in your freezer, and use them as and when you like. I am using soy milk from @soy for this recipe but you can use any other plant-based milk.
Sweetener
My go-to sweetener in smoothies and nice cream is maple syrup but you can sub it with agave syrup. If you are lucky, you might get a good batch of sweet mangoes then there is no need to add extra sweetener. The mango will do its job perfectly.
Now all you have to do is combine the mango, cardamom powder, frozen plant-milk cubes and maple syrup in a blender until smooth and creamy. Depending on how powerful your blender is, you can adjust the timing from 3-4 minutes or 5-7 minutes. Totally depends.
Do a taste test to check for consistency and sweetness. If required, add some more chilled plant-milk to make it into a soft-serve-type consistency. Serve it in pretty bowls because we are fancy. Enjoy!
If you want a more authentic Indian Ice cream recipe then checkout this Vegan Kulfi recipe to beat the heat 🙂
Mango Cardamom Nice Cream
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1 frozen mango
- 4-5 cardamom pods (shelled and crushed) or 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
- 9-10 cubes of frozen plant milk
- 1-2 tsp of maple syrup or any plant syrup
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a blender. And blend away.
- Add extra plant milk to get the soft-serve- consistency.
- Serve it fresh in your favourite bowl.
- If you prefer, you can top it off with your favourite garnish like nuts or fruit pieces.
Homemade Coconut Chutney
Ingredients1x2x3x
- Base:
- 1 cup grated Coconut
- 2 shallots
- 1 knob ginger
- 2-3 green chilli as per taste
- ½-1 tsp to taste
- ½ cup water
- Tempering:
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 shallot chopped
- 1 dried red chilli
- 7-8 curry leaves
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients for the base and set aside.
- Heat oil on medium heat and add the ingredients for tempering.
- Once everything smells fragrant and crunchy (around 2-3 minutes), add this tempering to the blended chutney base.
- Serve the chutney and serve with dosas or idlis.
