Thenga Thogayal/Coconut Coarse Chutney

When I started typing the title for this post, I was wondering what classifies something as thogayal. It appears to be like a regular chutney, so then how does one know the difference. Looking though a bunch of blogs here is what I found. It is very traditional to Tamil cuisine and is usually eaten mixed with rice. The very characteristic of thogayal is that, it has a coarse texture and is not very smooth as a chutney. Thogayal can be made with coconut, dhals and vegetables. When made with vegetables it has more water content than with coconut or dhal. It can get a little dry sometimes and to balance that dryness it is served with kootu, Kozhambu, pachidi, rasam or curd rice. The best kind of vegetable that goes with thogayal are those that can be roasted well like Eggplant, Okra, Snake gourd(Podalanga), Potato, (Cluster Beans)Kothavaranga etc. The texture of the thogayal is greatly influenced by the method one chooses to grind. According to my Appa, a blender, mixie or food processors can produce good thogayal but using a grinding stone(ammi) the texture and taste totally becomes divine.

Gadgets:

Blender/Mixie/Food Processor

Measuring cups and spoons

Wok

Ingredients:

Grated coconut - 1 half or 1 1/2 cups

Red chilli - 3

Asafotida - a few shakes

Thoor Dhal - 1/4 cup

Udad Dhal - 1/4 cup

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt

Tamarind water - 1 tbsp ( soak a dime size tamarind in water and add the thick juice)

Water - 1/4 cup ( depends on the moisture in the coconut)

Preparation:

1. Heat the wok with oil. Add asafoetida, mustard seeds. Wait for the mustard seeds to pop. Add dry chilli, udad and thoor dhal and roast until the dhal turns golden. Remove from flame and allow to cool.

2. Add grated coconut to the above mix along with the tamarind juice and grind into a coarse paste and serve with hot rice, appalam , potato roast and kozhambu.