Shenga Chutney Coconut Peanut Maharashtra

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (dry roasted, skin removed)
• 3 green chilli
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• a pinch of sugar, salt
• Water — about 2 to 3 tbsp for blending
• For tempering:
• 1 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 5 curry leaves, 1 dried red chilli

Method

1. Combine ingredients in blender: Add fresh grated coconut, roasted peanuts, green chilli, ginger, lemon juice, sugar and salt to a blender.
2. Add minimal water: Add 2 to 3 tbsp water — just enough to allow the blender to process. The chutney should be thick, not runny.
3. Blend: Blend for 1 to 2 minutes to a smooth-to-medium-coarse paste. The peanuts give the chutney a slightly granular character even when blended smooth.
4. Taste: The chutney should be: mildly spicy from green chilli, slightly sour from lemon, sweet from fresh coconut, nutty from peanuts and savoury.
5. Adjust: Add more lemon for sourness, more chilli for heat, more coconut for sweetness. Blend briefly after each addition.
6. Transfer to a bowl.
7. Heat oil for tempering: Heat 1 tsp oil. Add mustard seeds — pop. Add curry leaves and dried red chilli — crackle.
8. Pour tempering over chutney: Pour the hot tempering directly over the chutney.
9. Stir the tempering through: Mix the tempering through the chutney.
10. Serve: Serve with poha, upma, amboli, batata vada or alongside any Maharashtra snack. Best consumed fresh — within 6 to 8 hours.
11. Note: The addition of roasted peanuts to coconut chutney is specifically Maharashtrian — in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, coconut chutney is made without peanuts. The peanuts add body, protein and a roasted complexity that distinguishes the Maharashtrian version. This chutney is the universal accompaniment to almost every Maharashtra snack and breakfast dish — from vada pav to sabudana khichdi to poha.