Curry leaves chutney or curry leaves thogayal is an easy and flavourful recipe made with fresh curry leaves, grated coconut and minimal spices.
Curry leaves or Karuveppilai is one of the staple herbs in Indian cooking, especially in Southern India. Its the one herb that we cannot do without and you will find this in practically every Indian kitchen, or shall I say refrigerator 🙂 However limited space people have around their houses and apartments, it’s not uncommon to see at least one curry leaves plant that is carefully watered and tended to. My mom has about three plants around the house and my sister has a mini curry leaves garden in her front yard. The fragrance of fresh curry leaves is truly unmatched!
This recipe is my mom-in-law’s and super easy to put together. I have tweaked her original curry leaves thogayal recipe to includes some embellishments – sometimes a fistful of coriander leaves (cilantro), or some roasted urad dal, etc.
This thogayal is fabulous if you:
- love curry leaves and its flavour
- are looking for recipes to use up fresh curry leaves
- love thogayal in general and want something quick and fuss free
- have less in time in hand and want to add one more “item” to your lunch or dinner menu
This paruppu thogayal recipe is quite the bomb too!
Curry Leaves Thogayal Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh curry leaves packed
- 1/2 cup grated coconut fresh or frozen, thawed
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 1/8 teaspoon hing asafoetida
- 2-3 dry red chillies adjust to taste
- 1 green chilli optional
- A small piece of tamarind
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves optional
Instructions
- Wash the curry leaves thoroughly and set aside to drain
- Heat oil in a pan and add the urad dal
- When the dal turns brown, add the hing
- Then add the red chillies, garlic, and green chilli (if using)
- Roast for 10 seconds and then add the curry leaves
- Saute until the leaves wilt and turn a darker colour - about 5-7 minutes
- Turn off the heat and add coconut, coriander leaves, tamarind, and some salt
- Stir everything together to warm up in the heat of the mixture
- Cool completely
- Grind with very little water to a coarse paste
- Serve with rice and ghee
Notes
- The coriander leaves are optional. I also add mint leaves sometimes I have fresh ones in hand
- The green chilli adds a lovely flavour but can be omitted
- The garlic is optional but highly recommended
- Add as little water as possible to just enable grinding. More water will dilute the flavour of the curry leaves thogayal
Step by Step Curry Leaves Thogayal Recipe
Prepare all the ingredients
Heat oil and add urad dal
When it turns brown, add hing
Then add red chillies, green chilli, and garlic
Roast for a few seconds until fragrant
Add the curry leaves and mix together
Cook until the leaves are a darker colour and wilt slightly – about 5-7 minutes. Turn off heat. Then add coconut and tamarind
Also add coriander leaves
Mix everything well together with salt in the resulting heat of the pan
Cool completely. Grind with minimal water to a coarse paste to get your fragrant curry leaves thogayal
after along time at ur place,…:-)curry leaves chutney is new for me,,nd ya luved the new look of ur blog,.;-)
hey nags I can smell it here!! looks very inviting.
oh, this is one healthy recipe!!!! As a kid, I was always anemic, and my doc always prescribed curry leaves!!! 😀
Love the pictures as well….
Thats a lovely colour! Nice and delicious!
Kariveppilai chutney is something new to me..we make a dry chutney[more like a powder] with curry leaves,dessicated coconut and some other spices.This one looks quite easy and a temporary subsitute to the dry chutney!!
Lovely clicks. I never had curry leaves chutney. Will definitely try it out.
wow, that looks intriguing, and definitely new! I’m inclined to try it soon Nags:)
hi Naga, this is superb! I have never had curry leaves chutney, only curry leaves powder used for idli/ dosa. Will surely try this, though I will substitute the tamarind with lemon juice and try it:-) About the lustrous hair bit, I remember my mother used to force me to chew and eat them along with the vegetables from the thoran, and I really wonder if it did any good! Btw, the pics on flickr are a giveaway of your next recipe, I think…
That looks greeeeeen and refreshing! I make a curry leaves chutney from the Pedatha cookbook which is quite tasty.
What yummy and healthy chutney! looks good too… 🙂