Malli Chammanthi ~ Roasted Coriander Chutney with Coconut | A guest post by Nags of Edible Garden

Nagalakshmi or Nags,as she is popularly known as,who blogs at Edible Garden is not stranger to the blogging community.In fact,when I started out,hers was one of the blogs I looked up to(still do!)and get inspired.So when she offered to do a guest post for this humble space of mine,I was doubly delighted.Without further ado,here's the recipe in her own words.

Malli Chammanthi - Roasted Coriander Chutney

First of all, a huge thanks to Divya for giving me this opportunity to share a guest post on her site. This is my second guest post - I don’t do many of them, clearly - but I am happy to do it for Divya who is one of the first people to completely wow me with a post back in 2009 when she featured many dishes she cooked from my site all in one post.

This malli chammanthi is special to me for a number of reasons. It holds many memories, the best one being many train rides and lemon rice packed in banana leaves. Amma always made this to go with lemon rice and I just love that combination. Even today, if I make lemon rice, I always make this chutney to go with it. My chithappa’s wife Vimala aunty makes the best malli chammanthi in our family, in my opinion. She makes a generous mound and I often request for it when I visit them in Alleppey. Maybe the coconut is sweeter in my dad’s hometown, who knows.

There’s nothing radical or different in this chammanthi. It’s the usual suspects with a generous amount of roasted coriander seeds. Always roast the seeds fresh and use the freshest coconut you can find. Mine is usually about 2 weeks old but it still works, still brings back those lovely memories. Oh, and if you have a dusty old ammikkallu in your backyard, use it for this chammanthi. You won’t regret it.

Malli Chammanthi

Ingredients

Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup

Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Shallots/ulli - 3

Garlic - 1 clove

Red chillies - 1-2

Tamarind - one small piece

Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a pan and add the coriander seeds

On low heat, roast them until the colour lightly changes and the seeds begin to turn fragrant

Add the shallots, garlic and red chillies. Roast for a few seconds until the shallots begin to char and the chillies turn shiny

Turn off the flame and add the coconut and tamarind. Stir well to combine

Grind to a smooth chutney consistency with salt. Don’t add water

Goes great with rice and rasam or lemon rice.

Thank you Nags for the sweet gesture :)