Chutney idli? I have never thought this way before! My FIL told me about this tiffin, when I went to Chennai in March. I loved the idea the very instant he told and have been thinking for a while now to try it out. Now since they(FIL & MIL) are here with me in Singapore, I took the recipe/ idea from them and tried it. This one is served in one of the hotels in Trichy, near the bus stand. They forgot the name of the hotel, but I never bothered as my FIL always tells recipes perfectly. MIL helped me in précising the recipe.
The idea of this is just like sambar idli, the consistency should be like that. If you are thinking that it involves too much coconut in this recipe, no its not! We use only 1/4 cup coconut for serving 2 people. This can be a great evening snack and you can also club this with other dishes in any get together dinners. Everybody will be wow-ed. And the recipe is so so flexible, that you can add your touch to the chutney or make your favourite flavour chutney and enjoy! So now to the recipe…
Ingredients ( for serving two)
If you want recipe for idli batter, then here it is, please refer this link
Mini Idlis – 14
Coconut – 1/4 cup
Fried gram dal/ pottu kadalai* – 3 tblsp
Milk – 1/4 cup
Water and salt – As needed
Green chilli – 4
Small onion/ shallots – 6
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Ghee Optional – 1 tsp for topping
To temper
Coconut oil/ cooking oil – 1 tblsp
Mustard – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Method
- Make mini idlis as you do regularly and keep aside. Grind coconut,chilli, salt with milk.
- Grind smoothly and set aside. Heat kadai/ pan with oil and temper with the items given under to temper table. Add curry leaves and finely chopped onion.
- Fry till onion turns golden brown and add the ground chutney to this and give a quick fry.
- Add 1 cup water(or as needed) and bring to boil. Add the idlies and let it boil for a minute. Adjust the consistency by adding water if need, till you get a thick sambar like consistency.
Notes
- The chuntey gets thickened when you boil, so you can add water. Also when it cools down, gets thicker.
- You can add a garlic flake in the chutney while you grind. Or even a shallot while grinding. This adds more flavour to the chutney. Ginger also is a nice choice for flavouring.
- Fried shallots adds a great flavour to this. You can also replace it with finely chopped large onion.
- I made lesser in quantity than mentioned here.
- Idli should be soft enough to absorb the chutney mix.
Top with Ghee and let it rest for 10 minutes or more. Just re heat when you are going to serve. Yummy! 
What an innovative recipe[thanks to ur FIL for sharing it with us:)] and I am definitely try this one.Looks absolutely inviting.
Raji, this looks wonderful…Our Coimbatore style chutney has shallots in it..OMG damn delicious it will be 😉
Lovely recipe Raks
super delicious dear
Raks, so nice and very inviting.. Nice clicks.. My Anut does Chutney dosa which is my favourite (she does it with Ghee) this is first time I heard Chutney Idli
That must taste yum for sure and quite a filling one too.
Such a wonderful and innovative recipe!! i make with other chutneys but dint dry with coconut chutney!!!
Yummy!!!
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Chinna vengayam talicha chutney is my dad's absolute favorite!! When all of us felt lazy and avoided that, he would sit with a plate of chinna vengayam and carefully peel and slice them. Then ask me or amma to temeper the chutney. And then the look on his face with the first bite, priceless!!! Chtney idli sounds amazing, will try this soon.
Innovative idea Raji! Looks delicious!
In Bangalore at few places we get idlis dunked in thin chutney(like sambar) and we absolutely love that,but this one is new 2 me too..:)would love to give this a try once as it sounds interesting to boil in chutney
Droolworthy!!!! Say a big thank you to your father-in-law from me for such an innovative party idea!
Thanks to your FIL for this new dish. Will definitely try this!
Nice one. Good everyone help you in blogging.
Hotels near Trichi bus stand serve really yumm food this is one among them i suppose! I still cant forget the chilli parota i had there =P~ very nice presentation and innovative recipe congrats upon ur try and success 🙂
awesome recipe….superb
This is something I've never heard of before. Do you know why you milk has to be added? Is it to get a liquid-like consistency, or is it something to do with the taste?
Your blog is a site I come to everyday, just to drool at all the pictures.
wow very nice idea…luv it!
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This is nice .. i have recently bought mini idli set and never knew what to do special with those mini idlis … will try this one 🙂
I love this idea. We always make idles, but serve them with sambar, podi or chutney. I like the soaked version. Thank your father in law for sharing this recipe with you. So sweet of him to do so. I will try it for sure.
Chutney idli-now that is something new.Looks gorgeous and I am sure it tastes as delicious as it looks!
Wow . Looks beautiful and its so innovative
Chutney Idli… Love the name 🙂
Very different one…
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Thanks to your FIL. Loved clicks and the picture sauting shallots is very good. I normally eat my idly with lot of chutney..surely will love this !!
Its really a gr8 idea. Never thought of this way.Super recipe 🙂 will try for sure..
am going to try this for a get together soon!!
Nice idea, looks superb n feel hungry dear…
Nice interesting idea…adding shallots is a super twist….yum combo!!
Very innovative recipe…sounds delicious and looks yummy
woww. so mouthwatering recipe. just love this
Excellent! An innovative recipe.Please visit my space if your time permits.
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Am inviting myself to ur place, wat a super irresistible chutney idli.
Loved this recipe…Chutney idli looks supe tempting…yumm..
Hey wow this is beautiful. My hubby will love this for idli and chutney is is favourite. Thanks.
Raji, this looks and sounds delicious and very tempting. I like your step-by-step posts too! I have had these at a friend's. 🙂
That's a lovely one raji, this way may be I can make my daughter eat chutney this way :), nice one.., thanks for sharing..
Hello sister, i tried it, it was really tasty and marvelous dish which came nicely. My husband was speechless after he ate this. He was amazed and astonished. Very nice recipe and heartful thanks from my husband too.
Hi Chan, so many thanks to you for the instant feedback, it really means a lot to me 🙂 Happy that you guys loved it!
Awesome……. my husband simply loved it.. cant thank you enuff for this recipie 🙂
this is tasty and easier to prepare also.. thanks Raks.
came from google as was surfing something related to idli. just loved this recipe of idli dunked in chutney and the photos are mouth watering. i have had boiled chutney many times and had almost forgotten this technique. thanks to your post. tomorrow will be boiled chutney with idli-dosa for breakfast.