This pea coconut chutney with mint and coriander is out of this world delicious! We love the refreshing taste of mint which contrasts beautifully with the rich creaminess of coconut. Peas give a spring sweetness to this recipe, along with a boost of natural fibre and folate.
I really need to talk up how good this chutney is. The flavour combinations will leave you hankering for more! You have the sweet spring flavour from fresh garden peas and the pungent herbal kick of fresh garlic chives. Creamy coconut with refreshing mint and tangy lemon.
The beauty of this chutney is you can serve it with anything you like. Homemade naan bread or chapatis. As an accompaniment with samosas or other savoury pastries. I even use it as a dip for vegetable sticks or spring rolls.
When I travelled to India a few years ago, nearly everything I ordered at restaurants was served with a coconut mint chutney. I loved the food there so much, I have been trying to recreate dishes ever since.
This recipe for pea coconut chutney with mint and coriander is a unique take on a classic chutney. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Ingredients for Pea Coconut Chutney with Mint & Coriander
Fresh Garden Peas
Who doesn’t love fresh garden peas? The perfect example of springs finest flavours. My garden peas were overflowing last week so I harvested them all to make this recipe. I froze my peas so they wouldn’t spoil and defrosted them with no issue. For this recipe, you may use fresh peas (unfrozen) or feel free to use defrosted peas from the freezer.
The only issue is that it may not be food-safe to eat store bought frozen vegetables raw. In this case, I recommend steaming your peas from frozen for 3-5 minutes or until fully cooked and bright green. Run them under cold water to stop the cooking process, then continue on with the rest of the recipe.
Coconut
I used un-toasted desiccated coconut for this recipe. The coconut needs to be lightly toasted in the oven or in a cast iron pan until it turns a slightly darker shade. This releases the coconut aroma giving a rich coconut flavour to the chutney.
I also used coconut cream for this recipe to help thin the chutney to a smoother consistency. You may use coconut milk, cashew milk or another plant based milk for this step. I find that coconut cream works best however.
Cashews
For this recipe I recommend using raw unsalted cashews. I lightly dry toasted the cashews in a cast iron pan before adding them to my food processor to blend. You can also dry toast them on an oven tray for 10 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. Be careful, as they tend to burn very quickly.
Fresh Herbs – Mint, Coriander and Garlic Chives
The stars of the show! I grow a huge range of fresh herbs in my garden. My coriander was close to going to seed. I thought, best to harvest the lot before it goes to waste and use it in this chutney. Perfect timing with the garden peas being ready too, I might add!
Fresh mint really adds freshness, I would not recommend substituting it for anything else. The garlic chives could be swapped out for regular chives or spring onions if required.
Spices and Seasonings
I love using whole spices in my recipes. The trick with spices is to grind them in a spice grinder right before you need them, rather than buying powdered spices. The aroma and flavour will be much stronger this way.
This chutney calls for black pepper, cumin seed, mustard seed and garam masala. I make my own garam masala using whole spices. I also used fresh ginger and garlic, along with lemon juice for tartness and raw honey for sweetness.
Normally, I would add fresh green chilli to this too, but my chilli plants are not fruiting yet. You can always add chilli paste or powder or fresh diced chilli if you have them on hand. It tastes delicious without chilli but would be even better with a fiery kick.
Making the Pea Coconut Chutney Recipe
Prepare Your Ingredients
- Dry toast cashews and desiccated coconut separately in a cast iron pan or in the oven on a tray.
- Wash and chop the fresh herbs.
- Mince garlic and ginger and fry in oil with cumin seed, mustard seed and garam masala.
Process and Store
- In a food processor, blend cashews and coconut first to a fine powder crumb.
- Add the cooked ginger garlic spice mix, along with the fresh garden peas and process.
- Finally add the fresh herbs, lemon juice and honey, salt and coconut cream and blend smooth.
- Transfer into a glass jar or container with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 5-7 days.
Pea Coconut Chutney with Mint & Coriander
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 2 cup desiccated coconut, unsweetened
- 1 ¾ cup fresh peas
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 whole seeded fresh green chilli's, minced optional
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
- 1 tsp cumin seed, whole
- ½ tsp black mustard seed
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup fresh mint
- ½ cup fresh coriander
- ¼ cup fresh garlic chives
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp raw honey
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 400ml can coconut cream
Instructions
- In a cast iron pan dry toast the cashews and coconut separately until they darken a few shades. Add to the food processor and blend into a fine crumb.
- Add the peas to the processor and blend smooth.
- Mince garlic and ginger, and optional chilli. Heat oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add cumin and mustard seed. Wait for the cumin seed to darken and the mustard seed to crackle and pop. Now add the powdered garam masala and black pepper. Fry for a moment then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and soft. Take off the heat and allow the mixture to cool before adding to the food processor.
- Wash and finely chop all the fresh herbs. Add these to the food processor along with lemon juice, salt, honey and coconut cream. Blend smooth.
- Adjust for seasoning as desired and transfer into a sealed glass container. Store in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Notes
Let me know how you get on with trying this recipe. I’d love to know if you swapped ingredients out and how it went, what you served it with or anything else!
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