My friend Devi is an amazing cook. She has to be, since she has been cooking her entire life for her family, extended family, and friends for more than 50 years. There are so many recipes she shares with me, but most of them go over my head, as I’m usually not writing them down. But this carrot chutney recipe I did write down, that’s because I’ve been having it at her place for years now whenever she invites me over for lunch. The menu is almost always the same – her fluffy idlis, delicious lentil sambhar, and her two chutneys – coconut chutney and carrot chutney.  Everything is as expected scrumptious, but her carrot chutney is always the star of the meal.

It’s hard to describe the taste of Devi’s carrot chutney, let me just say that when you have it you can’t stop eating it. You can have it with toast, with crackers, mix it into rice, have it over chicken or fish, on a burger, and of course with idli or dosa; any way you eat it, it will be delicious. Here is the recipe.

Devi’s Carrot Chutney:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp urad dal (split black lentils)
• 2 dried red chilies
• 1 tsp tamarind pulp
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (Hing)
• Salt
• Oil

Directions:

In a small pot heat 1 tbsp oil. Now add the red chili and urad daal and lightly toast them in the oil about 3-5 seconds. Add this oil to the carrots, shredded coconut and tamarind pulp. In a blender or food processor blend the carrot mixture into a paste. Add little water if needed to blend finely. Transfer to a serving bowl. Add salt and mix-in.

In the same small oil pot heat 1 tsp oil. Add mustard seeds and let it pop.  Turn the stove off. Add 1/2 tsp asafetida powder to the oil and let the fragrance come through, do not burn the asafoetida powder.  Add this oil to the blended carrots and coconut paste. Carrot Chutney is ready. Serve with idlis or serve as a side condiment with burgers, crackers, or with burritos.