Pachadi (General)

Taal Pachadi

Ladies finger pachadi

Pineapple pachadi

Elavan / ash gourd pachadi 

Pachadi is the 'sweet' accompaniment served on the right hand corner of the banana leaf during a sadya.
There is an ongoing debate on it's name. Some people call it 'kichadi' and some of us 'pachadi'.
For me kichadi is always the one with raw uncooked curd in it and is always white.

Again there are many permutations and combinations make this pachadi. Stating 2 below.
1. Some people add tamarind extract, which removes the general yellow colour of the curry. This has to be done when you cook colacasia stem and pindi or you might end up with a post lunch/dinner itching session.
2. And while grinding the coconut, I personally prefer the mustard. But it looks like many people like jeera.
So, the choice is yours.

Try my mother-in-law's superb special recipe of  Mango pachadi  which has no ground coconut. You can also try making mango pachadi with ground coconut like the recipe below.
Ladies finger pachadi is simple and tasty, but here the vegetable is first sauteed, before it is cooked in tamarind syrup.
Taal or Colocasia stem is also cooked in Tamarind syrup. But be very careful while choosing the stems as they can cause severe itching.

The following is a GENERAL recipe.

Ingredients:
1.Vegetable - 1 cup, skinned and cut into thin slices
(Ash gourd (elavan) / Pineapple / Ripe mango / Banana stem (pindi) / colacasia , arbi, taro stem (taal)/ ladies finger)
2. Salt
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Chilly powder - 1 tsp (optional)
5. Jaggery / sharkara - 1 tbsp
6. Use either : Curd - 3 tbsp (or) Tamarind pulp extracted from 1/2 a lemon sized ball - 1 cup

To be ground:
Coconut - 3/4 cup
Raw mustard - 1 tsp (or) Jeera - 1 tsp
Green chilly - 2

To  splutter:
Coconut oil - 2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaf - 4
Red chilly -1  broken

Method:

1. Boil the pineapple and mango in water with salt and turmeric powder till cooked.
    If using elavan, boil in water with only salt and no turmeric powder.
    Boil the pindi and taal in tamarind pulp with salt and turmeric powder till cooked.
    If you plan to make ladies finger pachadi, look up the recipe here.
    To learn how to prepare the colocasia / arbi / taro stem aka taal, please click here.

2. Grind the coconut, mustard or jeera and green chilli into a very fine paste.
    Once the vegetables get soft add the ground mixture and jaggery.
    Do not add jaggery to elavan / ash gourd.

3. If you have cooked either ash gourd or pineapple or mango add the curd to it. Mix well.
    Boil until frothy. Do not do a steady boil, or the curd separates.

4. Splutter the mustard, red chilli and curry leaf in coconut oil.
    Add to the curry and cover until ready to serve.