Curry Leaf Chutney

Curry Leaf chutney one of my favorites and is pretty simple and fairly easy to make if I can find curry leaves, which is not always the case. I have tried growing my own, but probably the seeds were not quite happy or I left it out exposed to cold too much, they never survived so far. I have not given up hope yet.

Ingredients
1½ cup loosely packed curry leaves
1-2 jalapeno or serrano (remove seeds and membrane if too hot)
1 cup grated coconut (dry or fresh)
1 Tbsp urad dal
1 Tbsp toor dal
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt to taste
some water

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, toast the dals and mustard seeds till urad dal turns golden brown.
2. Off heat, add the curry leaves and toss them around in the residual heat of the pan.
3. Allow to cool a bit; then, combine the coconut and chilies, grind to a fine paste, adding water as needed.
4. Stir in some salt to taste.

Tempering is optional, I always like it as it adds a nutty flavor and gritty texture to an otherwise smooth chutney, and is visually appealing.

Tempering ingredients:
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp canola oil

Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and allow it to pop, then add the cumin seeds, allow them to plump up, and turn off heat. Garnish the chutney with the tempering. Stir well before serving.

Curry Leaf thogayal/thohayal is another wonderful way to enjoy these leaves: make it just like coconut thogayal recipe, with the curry leaves as the additional ingredient.