Garlicky dry chutney with coconut and Savina habaneros
Hello my lovely readers!
Do you remember the post I did a few weeks ago on my love of chili/chile peppers ? Well, I got a message from Melissa’s Produce the other day after they read that post and they asked me if I wanted to try the Savina habanero pepper. It happens to be the second hottest chile pepper in the world! It just came into season and I would be one of the first ones to lay my hands on it. Of course I said yes! I’m always looking for a challenge and what’s more of a challenge than trying out an extremely hot pepper? Caution: gloves required..these babies are HOT!
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So what is a Savina habanero pepper? It’s the second hottest pepper in the world and comes in at 577,000 Scoville Units, which is about 65 times hotter than a jalapeno. It sounded a bit like suicide for my taste buds, but they aren’t too bad if you remove the seeds first. They have a nice piquant flavour that I can see going well with any type of cuisine, especially Mexican and Indian cuisine.
As I anxiously waitied to get the Savina habaneros in the mail, I started thinking of ways I could use them. Hot sauce, wings, turkey chili and the usual spicy dishes crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to make something had been done before. After some brainstorming, I decided to marry to flavours of Mexico and India in a garlicky, spicy dry chutney made with desiccated coconut, garlic, Savina habaneros, cumin and onion powder. It’s one of my favourite recipes so far and has been officially taste-tested by the hubby. He absolutely loves it and can’t wait for me to make it again. It’s a winner in my house, so if you’re anything like me and love some spice, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this!
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So, why a dry chutney and not a “wet” chutney? Well, I wanted to try something a little different. I came across dry chutneys for the first time while blog-hopping last year. Apparently, it’s a popular Indian condiment, but somehow I never knew about it. My recipe is inspired by the traditional Indian coconut and garlic dry chutney made by Maharashtrians which is just grated coconut, garlic, chilies and oil. Since grated coconut isn’t always easy to find, I used desiccated coconut instead and added some cumin powder and onion powder for more flavour.
The chutney keeps well in the fridge for a few days, so make a bigger batch if you like. Just make sure it’s in an air-tight container to prevent the coconut from drying out too much.
How do you eat this chutney? Well, there’s no right or wrong way. I’ve been sprinkling it on eggs in the morning, adding it to quinoa salads during lunch and even adding it to stir-fried veggies at dinner. You can sprinkle it on almost everything..well almost. I even had a bit of this chutney with a spoonful of peanut butter. Just chutney and peanut butter! Does that make me sound a little crazy? What can I say, I can’t get enough of the chutney. Ok, I’m going to stop raving about it and give you the recipe.
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| Coconut and garlic dry chutney with Savina habaneros |
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- 2 tbsp oil (I used virgin coconut oil)
- 20 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 3 red Savina habanero chiles
- 1.5 cups desiccated coconut, unsweetened
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- salt to taste
- Slice the habaneros open, remove the seeds and roughly chop them. Note: These chiles are extremely hot, so I recommend wearing gloves before handling them.
- Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and chiles and saute for 2 minutes. Add the cumin powder and onion powder and stir for 30 seconds.
- Toss the coconut into the pan and stir gently for two minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
- Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until the chiles appear as small flecks of red.
Dairy-free
Gluten-free
Vegan
If you can’t find Savina habaneros, you can get them shipped from Melissa’s Produce. If you’d not ready for the heat, this recipe will taste just has good with any other milder chile pepper. Feel free to experiment!
Question of the day: Have you ever tried a Savina habanero? What’s the hottest chile you have ever tried?
at 10:08 am
mhm that looks tempting! I am curious about those extra hot chilli types and what they taste like compared to the kashmiri chillies (sorry dont know any more except the piri piri ones)
at 11:12 am
That’s an interesting recipe! With garlic and coconut together I don’t think it can go wrong
at 1:54 am
That is a totally new and interesting recipe Divya
I am not one for heat or peppers but I love the texture and the presentation of this dry chutney
at 12:34 pm
Drooling here. Love the mild colour of the chutney quite a contrast with the Badgi ones that I use.
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at 1:43 pm
This sounds like something I would surely love! I love chili peppers! I like to use haberno peppers in a simple pasta with garlic and olive oil. I feel garlic and chili complement each other very well! Great recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
at 5:45 am
nice recipe and great clicks! one can’t have too many recipes of chutney…this ones gonna be on my to do list!
at 8:36 pm
Have you ever tried ‘bhut jolokia’ ? It’s a spicy pepper from Nagaland in India and was considered as the spiciest pepper in the world at one time
I would have never really mixed coconut with pepper the way you did but I am curious now to give this a spicy. Spice makes me drool and my mouth is seriously watery now!
at 7:06 pm
The 2nd hottest? I’d die from the heat, I can barely take spicy food (wait, not “I”, it’s more like my tummy). But my husband loves extra super spicy! I wonder if he knows about this pepper. This sounds like definitely something he’d enjoy. We’re so opposite, personality and spice level… lol. Beautiful post, Divya!