Beerakaya pottu pacchadi – Ridge gourd’s skin chutney

 

I love beerakaya or beerakaya pottu pacchadi. Plus this vegetable is one of the easiest to work with, needs almost no oil, and cooks fast. It’s skin is not a waste and is just as tasty too. You don’t have to buy ridge gourd just to peel the skin and make chutney out of it. Whenever you peel save the skin.

Do not refrigerate it. Best way is to wrap it tightly with a newspaper and put it in a corner in the kitchen. Add more to it whenever you peel the skin. This recipe will give you measures for 4-5 beerakaya skin. You can make instant pacchadi with the skin of 1 beerakaya also.

Ingredients:

1. Beerakaya pottu: skin of 4-5 ridge gourds
2. Green chillies: 7
3. Tomatoes: 3
4. Salt to taste
5. Garlic: 3-4 cloves
6. Ginger: 1 teaspoon full of pieces
7. Lemon rind: 1/2 tea spoon (optional)
8. Lemon juice: 1 table spoon (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat 3-4 tea spoons of oil in the pan.
2. Fry ginger and garlic pieces for a minute.
3. Add beerakaya pottu and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Toss all the other ingredients barring lemon juice into the pan and cover with lid.
5. In medium flame let the ingredients cook for 10 – 15 minutes.
6. Cool all for a while.
7. Once cool transfer the ingredients into the blender.
8. Blend until you get a smooth consistency. Add little water for moisture and easy blending.
9. Add lemon juice in the end and mix with a spoon.

Your pacchadi is ready.

Susmita

Kobbari pacchadi - Coconut chutney

I love kobbari (coconut) pacchadi (chutney). Especially when Mom makes it. There's something about coconut that melts my heart. Kobbari is a common ingredient found in South Indian homes. South Indians use coconut in most of their dishes. There are many sweets which are made out of coconut as the base. Coconuts are also offered to God and its water is a favourite drink especially during summers.

So I had a lot of coconut at home. Well, typically after a festival most homes end up having a stock of coconut. If you notice, the couple of weeks post a festival always sees a rush of coconut based curries, chutneys, rasams, and sweets.

I had never made kobbari pacchadi before. But have seen it being made since my childhood. So I told myself, it can't be anymore difficult that making pudina (mint leaves) or beerakaya (ridge gourd) pacchadi.

Here is the most common recipe for kobbari pacchadi which will serve 4:
Ingredients:

Kobbari Pacchadi

1. Coconut: 2
2. Green chillies: 4-5 (more if you like it hot)
3. Salt to taste
4. Tomato: 3 regular size
5. Turmeric: 2-3 pinches (this adds yellow colour to the pacchadi)
6. Tempering at the end

Preparation:

1. Add 2-3 tea spoons of oil to you non stick pan.
2. Add green chillies and tomato into the pan and cover.
3. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
4. Remove from stove and cool.
5. In your blender add the cooled chillies, tomatoes, pieces of coconut, and salt to taste.
6. Add some water and blend for a few minutes.
7. Blend at all levels for a few seconds each.
8. Remove the cover of the blender and add turmeric.
9. Blend once again repeating steps 5 and 6.
10. Add more salt if needed.
11. Add tempering to the pacchadi and take it into a bowl.

Your typical telugu style kobbari pacchadi is ready. This will hardly take you 15 minutes.

Susmita

Pudina Kothimeera pacchadi (chutney)

Trust the telugus to make a pacchadi out of anything. A leaf, vegetable and even a root!! What is traditionally called the rotu pacchadi is a favourite of all, young and old. Some famous pacchadlu are pudina kothimeera pacchadi, beerakaya pacchadi, carrot cabbage pacchadi .. well the list goes on. Like I said hand us an eatable and we'll make a pacchadi out of it.

Pudina kothimeera is not just a favourite of the masses but also extremely easy to make. Traditional preparation of this pacchadi requires only 4 ingredients.
1) Pudina/mint leaves - 4-5 bunches
2)Kothimeera/coriander leaves - 3-4 bunches or less if you want pudina to dominate
3)7-8 green chillies cut into small pieces. Mostly depending on your taste buds, more or less

Pudina/Mint leaves

4)1 teaspoon chintapandu (tamarind) , you can even use the same amount of tamarind paste if you have it ready.
5)Salt to taste

Tempering (tiragamota/popu) is left to your discretion. Most pacchadis tend to enhance their taste when tempering is added in the end. I sometimes ignore it.


Prepation:
1)In your non stick pan add 2-3 tea spoons of oil.
2)Once hot add pudina, kothimeera, tamarind, and green chillies to the pan.
3)Add salt and cover to let it cook in its own steam on low flame.
4)After about 10 min either move the ingredients into a plate and let them cool, preferably under the fan, or take the pan itself to cool under the fan.
5)Once cool, grind them in the blender. 2 rounds of grinding is usually enough.
6)Add little water if you feel the pacchadi requires moistness.
6)Depending on hotness, add more chillies. If you feel you've overdone the chillies, add a tea spoon of sugar or a small piece of bellam (jaggery) and blend once more.

Your pacchadi is ready.
Sometimes I get adventurous and add onion, tomato, ginger, garlic along with the above ingredients. I like that taste too. You can try that if you want a change from usual. But remember pudina+kothimeera's taste should not be dominated. That's the whole idea :D

Susmita