Pudina pachadi is made with fresh mint leaves, coconut, herbs and spices. This pudina chutney with coconut is one more variation of using fresh herbs while making chutney varieties. It pairs well with South Indian snacks like idli, dosa, vada, bonda or uttapam. You can also serve it with snacks like upma, rava dosa, pakoda, rava idli or sandwich.
You can make the same recipe with coriander leaves replacing the mint leaves or a mix of both. I sometimes add mint and sometimes coriander leaves while making this mint coconut chutney variety.
Another South Indian variety of pudina chutney that I make is Pudina thogayal – this is a thick chutney that is served with steamed rice or a rice-based dish.
I have grown mint in my balcony garden so that I always have ample stock of mint for chutneys or for garnishing any dish or for making recipes like Pudina Rice or pudina paratha. Mint is a cooling herb and also excellent for digestion. So I try to use mint as well as other healthy herbs in my cooking.
Few more ideas to include herbs in coconut chutney are Green coconut chutney or basil coconut chutney.
I had made this pudina pachadi to go with rava dosa. It is best to consume the chutney as soon as it is made. Leftover can be refrigerated and consumed within a day.
You can vary the amount of mint leaves as per your liking. To give more green color add more mint leaves. It will also increase the mint flavors in the pachadi. This recipe can be easily scaled to make a larger serving according to your needs.
How to make Pudina Pachadi
1. First rinse the herbs in fresh water a few times. Then drain all the water. Peel the ginger and roughly chop. If using fresh coconut then grate the coconut and set aside. Note that you can also use frozen coconut.
Measure all the ingredients and keep ready for making pudina pachadi. Make sure all the ingredients are fresh and in their shelf period.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan or frying pan. You can use any neutral flavored oil or sesame oil. This sesame oil is called as gingelly oil in India and is not the Asian variety of toasted sesame oil.
3. Add ⅓ to ½ cup mint leaves, 8 to 9 curry leaves and 1 inch ginger which is roughly chopped. Keep the heat to low.
Only add the mint leaves and not the stems. If you add mint stems then the pachadi may become bitter.
4. Fry till the mint and curry leaves become crisp. Stir often so that the herbs get cooked evenly.
5. Remove this mixture with a slotted spoon draining the oil in the pan. Place the fried leaves and herbs mixture in a bowl. Let it cool down at room temperature.
6. In a chutney grinder or blender, add ½ cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen), 1 or 2 chopped green chilies and 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal.
7. Also add fried mixture of mint leaves, curry leaves and ginger that we had prepared in the earlier steps.
8. Next add salt as required.
9. Pour about ¼ or ½ cup water or as needed.
10. Grind or blend to a smooth and fine paste. Make sure there are no chunks of ginger or coconut in the paste.
11. Remove the ground chutney in a heatproof bowl.
Tempering for pudina pachadi
12. In the same pan, add oil if required. Note that some oil will already be there in the pan. You can use any neutral flavored oil or sesame oil.
13. Add ½ or ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds and let them crackle at low heat.
14. Then add 8 to 9 curry leaves and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing). Take care while adding curry leaves as the oil can splutter.
15. Fry for some seconds till curry leaves become crisp at low heat.
16. Pour the tempering mixture together with the oil into the pudina pachadi in the bowl.
17. Mix and stir well to combine.
18. Serve pudina pachadi immediately with snacks like rava idli or rava dosa or sada dosa or uttapam or medu vada.
The leftover chutney can be refrigerated for some hours in an air-tight container. Since coconut is used it is best to consume it fresh.
More Chutney recipes
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Pudina Pachadi
Ingredients
main ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- ⅓ to ½ cup mint leaves
- 8 to 9 curry leaves
- 1 inch ginger – roughly chopped
- ½ cup grated coconut – fresh or frozen
- 1 or 2 green chilies – chopped
- 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal (roasted Bengal gram)
- ¼ or ½ cup water or as required
for tempering
- ½ or ¾ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 8 to 9 curry leaves
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
Instructions
making pudina pachadi
- Heat oil in a small pan.
- Fry the mint leaves, curry leaves and ginger till the mint and curry leaves become crisp stirring often on a low heat.
- Remove this mixture from the pan using a slotted spoon and draining all the oil in the pan. Place this mixture in a bowl and let it cool at room temperature.
- In a chutney grinder or blender, add grated coconut (fresh or frozen), chopped green chilies and roasted chana dal.
- Also add fried mixture of mint leaves, curry leaves and ginger that we had prepared in previous step.
- Next add salt as required and about ¼ or ½ cup water. Grind or blend to a smooth paste without any chunks.
- You can make the chutney thick or medium consistency as you prefer by adding less or more water.
tempering pudina pachadi
- In the same pan, add oil if required. But do note that some oil will be there in the pan.
- Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle at low heat.
- Then add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Take care as oil can splutter when you add the curry leaves
- Fry for some seconds on low heat stirring often till the curry leaves become crisp.
- Pour the tempering mixture together with the oil in the ground pudina pachadi.
Notes
- Use fresh mint leaves. Only use the leaves and not the stems. The addition of stems may make the chutney get a bitter taste.
- You can skip roasted chana dal if you don’t have. And instead add roasted peanuts.
- Instead of mint leaves you can use coriander leaves and make coriander pachadi. Alternatively use an equal mix of mint leaves and coriander leaves.
- Make the chutney thick or medium consistency by adding water as needed.
- You can opt to use fresh or frozen coconut. You can also use unsweetened desiccated coconut.
- The recipe can be scaled up easily.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Pudina Pachadi post from the archives (May 2013) has been republished and updated on 12 January 2022.
How long will it keep in the fridge?
for 2 to 3 days.
This coconut mint chutni receipi is nice n simply gud. I will definately try this.
thanks ritu
Love the idea of mint in chutneys!
The addition of mint must make this chutney so refreshing. Would love to try it.
Its my favorite chutney…