I am so excited to share my Mother’s kochchi sambol (green chili coconut relish) recipe with you all! Double-y excited because I got to use chilies from my own tiny garden (pics below of my tiny chili plant! ). This sambol is generally prepared by my mother to eat with dosa or boiled manioc. After craving dosa for many weeks, I finally got the courage to try a Harishchandra dosa mix that had been sitting in my pantry for a few months. This is a classic breakfast meal that my loving mother cooks for us in Sri Lanka.
As a child, this breakfast combination would “magically” appear on our table, and I took it for granted. Today, I tried to make dosas for the first time ever. After standing in front of the stove for about an hour to make 15-20 dosas, I appreciate everything that my mother does even more. It brought this quote to my mind “Appreciate the food your mother cooks for you. Some don’t have food, and some don’t have mothers”
This kochchi sambol is served with hot dosas and a mixed vegetable curry below.

Sri Lankan Kochchi sambol (Green chillie coconut relish)
Ingredients
- 10 Curry leaves
- 10 Black pepper
- 5 Birds eye chillies (kochchi)
- 3 tbsp Coconut shredded
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Pearl onion or 1/4 red onion
- 1/2 tsp Tamarind liquid or 1/2 tsp Lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Chop the green chillies, red onions and garlic clove into small pieces
- Add them to a mortar and crush until it becomes a paste
- Add the shredded coconut and mix with the paste
- Take out the coconut and chillie mixture from the mortar, and add salt and tamarind/lemon juice to taste
- Mix well and serve with rice, dosa, idly!
Notes
- If sambol is too spicy, then add extra 1-2 tbsp of shredded coconut, reduce number of chillies and extra curry leaves