Coconut Onion Chutney

          Once again it's been a busy weekend, so it's going to be a simple dish, a chutney. Most of the South Indian tiffins like idlis, dosas, vadais, adais, almost everything is served with some chutney, the most common being the coconut and tomato chutney. This Coconut Onion chutney is a slight variation from the regular one, I have used shallots ( sambar onions) and it tastes very good with almost everything..

Need To Have

• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Chopped Shallots - 3 tablespoons
• Chana Dal/ Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Tamarind - small grape size
• Curry Leaves - 15
• Asafoetida - 1/8 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste

Method

          Heat a little oil, roast the chana dal, when it's half roasted, add the red chillies, saute and remove the chillies. Then add the chopped shallots and saute till they turn pink, add the curry leaves, mix for a minute and remove. Cool and grind it with the coconut, tamarind, salt, asafoetida and a little water. Remove and serve.

Note
You can also use regular big onions instead of shallots, but shallots are always more tastier.
I haven't seasoned this chutney, but you can season it with some mustard seeds and urad dal.