Learn to make Traditional South Indian Thengai Thogayal or Coconut Thogayal recipe. Easy, comforting and absolutely delicious Coconut lentil chutney recipe. Serve with rice, roasted papad and ghee or sesame oil. Recipe under 20 mins.
Thengai Thogayal, Coconut thogayal (thuvaiyal) is a lipsmacking South Indian chutney made with fresh coconut, lentils and red chilies. Served as side with steamed rice or congee (rice porridge/gruel), this chutney is a combination of nutty, spicy, tangy and all things deliciousness.
Thengai thogayal is not similar to the regular coconut chutney served with idli, dosa. This is a traditional South Indian condiment served with main course.
Thogayal can be made with herbs, lentils, fresh coconut, vegetables and kitchen discards like veggie peels, skin etc. It is mixed and eaten with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee or sesame oil.
The condiment adds flavor to your regular meals and instantly makes you crave for more.
Whenever we have excess coconut in the refrigerator or freezer, a batch of coconut thogayal is mandatory. I serve it with steamed rice, sutta appalam (urad dal papad roasted on direct flame) and sesame oil.
For more recipes using fresh coconut, do check out Coconut Rice (Thengai Sadam) and Coconut Podi (Thengai Podi) from the blog.
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About the Recipe
Thogayal has thick consistency with slightly coarse texture due to lentils.
It has nutty flavor (coconut), is tangy (tamarind) and spicy (chilies). Most thogayal recipes contain jaggery. Jaggery balances heat from the chilies and tanginess from tamarind.
Thogayal or thuvaiyal is served as side with main meals (rice, sambar and poriyal). It is a healthier replacement to pickles as its low in oil. It aids in digestion and enhances the meal experience.
This is more of a Tamil Brahmin recipe that does not contain Onion Or Garlic.
It is comfort food, traditional and budget friendly. We make this on days when the refrigerator is almost empty. It is absolutely satisfying and filling.
The ingredients are naturally gluten-free (except hing or asafoetida) and vegan.
How to make Thengai Thogayal Recipe or Coconut Thogayal
(1) Heat a pan, add oil, chana dal, urad dal and whole red chilies. Sauté until lentils have roasted (brown) and chilies have crisped up.
(2) Reduce the heat to the lowest point, add coconut and sauté until it appears roasted and fragrant. Note - Do not over-roast the coconut. Ensure the flame is on low heat else fresh coconut will burn.
(3) Once lentils, coconut is roasted, switch off the heat. Remove the contents onto a plate or bowl and allow to cool.
(4) Once cool, add the lentils and coconut mix to a mixer grinder jar. To this add, tamarind, hing or asafoetida, jaggery and salt to taste.
(5) Grind the thogayal using little water at a time. The consistency should be thick not runny.
(6) Store thogayal in an airtight container and serve with hot rice, ghee or sesame oil.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Coconut Thogayal with steamed rice with sesame oil drizzled on top. Add some roasted papad (appalam) and a bowl of curd for a filling and comforting lunch.
In South Indian homes, thogayal is served with day old rice soaked in water (pazha kanji). It has amazing health benefits and makes a power packed breakfast.
Serve it with South Indian Variety Rice - Curd Rice and Lemon Rice are our favorites.
A great side to Adai, Plain Crispy Dosa or Upma.
We also love thogayal with plain paratha or dal paratha as breakfast.
Storage / Leftovers / Shelf Life
Shelf life of thengai thogayal is 24 hours. It tastes best when eaten fresh.
Refrigerate leftovers. It will stay fresh for 1-2 days. Store in an airtight container, drizzle some sesame oil on the top. This will prevent the thogayal from becoming hard or dry.
More Thogayal recipes to try
Vepampoo Thogayal (Dried Neem Flower Thogayal)
Broccoli Stem or Stalk Thogayal
Pudina Thogayal (Mint)
This recipe first appeared on Masalachilli in May 2017 when I started the blog. I have updated the recipe with fresh content, pictures and recipe card.
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Thengai Thogayal Recipe | Coconut Thuvaiyal | Coconut Thogayal
Equipment
- Mixer Grinder
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Coconut (Fresh coconut, grated) 1 cup is 250 ml
- 2 tablespoon Urad Dal or Ulutham Paruppu 1 tbsp is 15 ml
- 1 tablespoon Chana Dal (Kadala Paruppu or Bengal Gram Dal)
- 5 Whole dry red chillies See notes below
- 1 Tamarind (Marble Size Ball)
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Jaggery
- a pinch of asafoetida or hing
- Salt to taste
- Water as required to grind the thogayal
Instructions
- Heat a pan, add oil, chana dal, urad dal and whole red chilies. Sauté until lentils have roasted (brown) and chilies have crisped up.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest point, add coconut and sauté until it appears roasted and fragrant. Note - Do not over-roast the coconut. Ensure the flame is on low heat else fresh coconut will burn.
- Once lentils, coconut is roasted, switch off the heat. Remove the contents onto a plate or bowl and allow to cool.
- Once cool, add the lentils and coconut mix to a mixer grinder jar. To this add, tamarind, hing or asafoetida, jaggery and salt to taste.
- Grind the thogayal using little water at a time. The consistency should be thick not runny.
- Store thogayal in an airtight container and serve with hot rice, ghee or sesame oil.
Video
Notes
- Coconut - If using frozen coconut, thaw it completely and follow the process. You can use desiccated coconut but we prefer fresh. Note - Be careful while roasting desiccated coconut as it burns quickly.
- Dry Red chilies - I have used two varieties of red chilies for thogayal – 4 Pondy chilies + 1 Kashmiri red chili. It has the perfect combination of heat + color. Feel free to use any variety of red chilies that your family prefers and / or easily available in pantry.
- Oil - I have used sesame oil (gingelly oil) for roasting the ingredients. Feel free to use coconut oil and / or vegetable oil as substitute.
- I have added seedless marble size tamarind. You can add more if you prefer thogayal extra tangy.
- Jaggery is optional. It balances heat from chilies and the sourness from tamarind. The thogayal will not taste sweet.
- Thengai Thogayal is Vegan. For a 100% gluten-free recipe, omit hing / asafoetida from the ingredient list above.
- Shelf life of thengai thogayal is 24 hours. It tastes best when eaten fresh.
- Refrigerate leftovers. It will stay fresh for 1-2 days. Store in an airtight container, drizzle some sesame oil on the top. This will prevent the thogayal from becoming hard or dry.
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We will be back again with yet another exciting recipe .. Until then, stay healthy and happy!
Vidya Narayan
Superb recipes, keep up. Thanks for sharing
thank you so much for your feedback.
I loved all the recipes listed. Especially since I don’t eat onion garlic. Great job.
Hi Chaitra,
Thank you for stopping by and appreciating our posts. Will try and post more recipes without onion and garlic in the future and in the meanwhile, do try our recipes and let us know what you think.
Cheers.