Vaatan | Coconut and Onion Paste for Malvani Recipes

Last Updated on May 11, 2024 by Babita

Vaatan is a very common but important ingredient in Malvani Cuisine. The Malvan area in Maharashtra is coastal and as such usage of coconut is very common in most of Malvani Cuisines. Coconut is used in various forms such as fresh-grated, dry-grated, roasted paste as well as coconut milk.

The roasted coconut paste is known as Vaatan. This paste is made with coconut and onion. It is actually used as an ingredient in most gravy/curry type of  Malvani recipes.

It is an ingredient because this particular paste is used in all kinds of Malvani recipes including seafood, chicken, mutton and other vegetarian dishes. The ingredients and preparations are pretty simple and straightforward.

Vaatan | Coconut and Onion Paste for Malvani Cuisine

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut
1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
Water as required.

Preparation:

• In a frying pan lightly roast coconut and onion for a minute.
• Set aside to cool
• Transfer it to a blender. Add 3/4 cup of water and blend it to a fine paste
• Store it in a container and freeze it until use.

Vaatan can be made in advance and frozen. Depending on the recipe, you would generally use 2 to 3 tbsps of it.