Pacha Mangaa Perakku - Raw Mango in Coconut Yogurt Mix (A kind of Raw Mango Pachadi)

There are certain recipes that stay close to our heart for several reasons and this is one among them. This is again my granny's recipe and is quite similar to Pacha Manga Pachadi - Cooked Raw mango in ground coconut and yogurt, but this do not require any cooking other than for the seasoning part. 'Perakku' simply means 'mix' in local Kannur/Tellicherry Malayalam and just as the name says it is a mixture of raw mango and few ingredients.

As I mentioned before when we were kids there were hardly any days when our Meenkaran(fisherman) did not bring fresh fish at our door steps. My grandma knew very well unless we get Meen(fish) curry or Fry it is hard to make us eat even a gulp of rice especially my little sister who was a very picky eater then. There were few simple tricky condiments/side dishes/curries which my grandma use to prepare to make us eat rice such as unakkamean(dry fish) fry or chammanthi(chutney), Puliyum Mulakum - a combination of tamarind with green chilies, shallots n salt, many more quick side dishes and of course her very own 'Perakku'. She prepares different kinds of perakku like onion perakku, onion-tomato perakku, raw mango perakku etc among which this one was our favorite. Try this out for a jiffy side dish for any flavorful or plain rice/Parathas. Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients:-

1. Raw Mango - 1/2 of big mango or 1 if it is small
2. Grated Coconut - 1 cup
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Slight Sour Yogurt(Thick Yogurt) - 1 cup
5. Onion finely chopped - 1/2(optional or shallots 2)
6. Green chilies finely chopped - 4
7. Ginger finely chopped - 1 tsp(optional)
8. Salt to taste
9. Few curry leaves

For seasoning:-

1. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp(or veg/canola oil)
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Dry red chilly - 3
4. Few Curry leaves  

Preparation Method:-

• Wash and peel the skin of raw mango, chop them into fine cubes and put them in a bowl. Add the chopped onion, green chilies, ginger, few curry leaves and salt to the chopped mango and mix it well with your clean hands or toss well to mix everything.
• Make a fine ground paste of coconut and mustard seeds with very less water(use water just to get it ground) and add to raw mango mix.
• With a fork or spoon slightly beat the yogurt just to remove lumps if any and add it to the raw mango mix and stir slowly to mix everything. Check for the salt and adjust accordingly. 
• Heat a small frying pan, pour coconut oil, crackle the mustard, add the curry leaves, dry red chilies stir  for few seconds and take off the stove. Pour them to the prepared Raw mango mix/perakku.
• Serve with Plain Rice or any flavorful Rice or Paratha.

  

Note:-
1. Adding onion is optional, you can opt out that if you are not an admirer of raw onion. I add it sometime, skip sometimes.
2. You can crush the mangoes in a food processor, just be careful not to blend it. It should be small but bite pieces.
3. You can make the same without raw mango, just onion mix/onion-tomato mix/pineapple mix or any fruit/veggie of your choice.

Sending this to The Kerala Kitchen Event hosted by Roshan @ Roshan's Cuccina and DIP IN-The Big Chutney Chow Down Event hosted by Priyas Now Serving and Show me your Hits hosted by Sangee Vijay @ Spicy Treats

Vendakka Pachadi/Okra Pachadi

Okra/Vendakka shallow fried and added to a thick mixture of yogurt-coconut gravy. Such a soothing curry or side dish that can be served with steamed rice/Biriyanis/any flavorful rice. Have it once and I'm sure your taste buds will never forget the taste of this pachadi.

Most of you might be familiar with Vendakka Pachadi but I never knew Okra can be used for making pachadi until Onam '11. I got to taste this curry for the first time for an 'Ona Sadya' organised by  the Kerala Cultural Society for the Association Onam Festivals and Cultural programs. I was then having it very slowly relishing the bites of fried okra and not so sour yogurt coconut gravy. But I was a bit confused about whether the pachadi has coconut-yogurt mixture or just the yogurt. Ina couple of days when I planned to make it at home I sent a message through fb to my big bro and as usual he called me immediately and cleared all my doubts.(As for readers my brother is a professional chef who had worked in different parts of the world. I admire the way he does things passionately and does wonders with anything available in the kitchens and that too by the time we think of making something, he would have just made it and walked out )
So here I'm sharing with all of you this yummy Okra/Vendakka Pachadi. Enjoy!!!

       

Ingredients:-

1. Okra/Vendakka/Lady's Finger - 12 med sized
2. Thick Yogurt/Curd - 3/4 cup
3. Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup
4. Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Green chilly - 4
6. Curry leaves a sprig
7. Coconut oil - 2 tsp(u can use oil of your choice)
8. Mustard seeds -1tsp
9. Urad dal - 1 tsp(optional, I luv to add them in pachadi)
10. Whole red chillies(I did not use it since I ran out of it) - 2
11. Salt to taste

Preparation Method:-

• Wash and pat dry the okra. Cut them into thin slices and set aside.
• Grind together coconut, cumin, green chillies, and few curry leaves. 
• Move the ground paste to a medium size bowl, add the yogurt and salt. Mix well with a spoon, add some water if needed to get to a thick but pouring consistency. Set aside
• Heat up a wok/Kadai/Pan in medium heat, add oil, mustard seeds and stir for few seconds.
• When mustard starts to crackle add urad dal, curry leaves and whole red chillies and stir for a minute.
• Add the okra and salt. Stir fry till okra become golden brown. Be careful not to get them to dark brown and burn, you will have to keep stirring it till they turn there color from light green to golden color .
• Take it off the flame and add it to the coconut-yogurt mix. Stir well and check for the salt and taste. Add more salt if desired.                     
• Serve with steamed rice or any rice of your choice

                                           

Note:- As per the original recipe okra is deep fried and pachadi taste better that way may be, I was just being health cautious and shallow fried them.                             

Beetroot Pachadi

Beetroot Pachadi is so simple and ezee to make and it goes well with any kind of rice or biriyani's. My husband sometimes eats it as it is, he cannot resist and wait for the main food to be served. This recipe came my way from my brother who is a chef by profession and passion. Oh yea, he is an awesome cook and my husband prefers to go to India for vacation only when my brother is home on vacation as he can enjoy some of those awesome authentic restaurant type of food being cooked by my bro. After I came to US we used stay with my hubby's friend and family for a while where I saw Seema chechi also making it with a very slight variation. Thanks to my dear brother and Seema Chechi for adding this healthy dish to my daily menu list.

Ingredients:-

1. Beetroot - 2 grated
2. Green chilly- 5 (slit into halves)
3. salt to taste
4. Grated coconut - 1 cup
5. mustard seeds - 1 tsp + 1 tsp
6. yogurt - 1 cup
7. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
8. urad daal - 1 tsp(optional)
9. curry leaves few
10. dry red chilly broken few
11. Okra - 3 chopped into small round shapes(optional)

Preparation Method:-

• Cook the grated beetroot by adding green chilly and salt in medium flame. Don't need to add any water as beetroot oozes out moisture by its own.
• When it is cooked switch off the flame
• Grind the coconut and 1 tsp mustard into a smooth paste and add it to the cooked beetroot.
• Now using a whisk beat the yogurt slowly just to remove the lumps if any. Add it to the beetroot and mix everything gently. Set aside.
• For seasoning:- Heat a pan, add coconut oil, crackle the mustard seeds. Add urad daal, okra and stir till light brown and crispy.Add the curry leaves and split red chilly, give it a stir. Pour it over the Pachadi
• Your pachadi is ready to serve. It tastes better after 3-4 hrs when the beetroot absorbs the sourness of the yogurt.

The slight variation I mentioned is nothing but opting out the okra while you do the seasoning.

Cucumber Pachadi-No cooking needed

In Kerala 'Pachadi' means a side dish similar to Raita made with vegetable or fruit(not all the fruits) in ground  coconut and yogurt to make a thick consistency. Cucumber(Kakkiri/Kaakdi) Pachadi is such an ezee dish that can be served with Rice or Biriyani or instead of Raita and can be made in less than 15 mins. This recipe had been travelling with me from the time I was in Plus two(actually pre-degree). Thanks a ton to my friend Mridu's mom, she is an excellent cook and so is Mridu. Mridu used to stay close to our college and I remember having this first time at her home when myself and few friends(Pritz, Nikhi, Ras...) went to her home for lunch.  I really do not know if this is the exact way Mridu's mom made this but alI I knew is, it was made with uncooked cucumber and I started making it from then by following the normal rules of Pachadi. So Friend's I would again say this is my version of cucumber pachadi which is so ezee to make and I'm sure you guys are gonna love it :)

Ingredients:-

1. Cucumber/Kakkiri/Kakdi - 2 med size(peeled and chopped into small cubes)
2. Green chilly - 4(slit into halves)
3. Ginger - a small piece(chopped finely)
4. salt to taste
5. Yogurt - 1 cup

To Grind:-

1. Grated Coconut - 1 cup
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

For seasoning:-

1. Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Whole dry red chilly - 3
4. urad daal- 1 tsp
5. curry leaes few

Preparation Method:-

• In a bowl add Cucumber, green chilly, ginger and salt. With clean hands mix everything together by mashing the veggies slightly.
• Make a thick paste of coconut and mustard seeds without adding much water(add water little by little just to get it grind, maybe a tbsp at a time). Add it to the cucumber, stir to mix.
• In another bowl whisk the yogurt with a spoon gently just to remove any lumps and add it to the cuucmber-coconut mix and stir well with a spoon. Adjust the salt to taste
• Now the only part where you have to switch on your stove - Seasoning the dish and this is purely optional.
• Heat a pan and pour coconut oil. Add mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds crackle add urad dal and give it a stir. Add curry leaves and red chillies and stir till dal turns becomes golden brown. Pour this over the pachadi.
• Your Cucumber pachadi is ready to serve with Rice/Biriyani/Pulav or anything of your choice. Enjoy!!!!

Pineapple Pachadi

I was unaware of pineapple pachadi till the time I came to US. It was from Seema Chechi our friend in New Jersey I learned that even pineapple can be used to make pachadi. I'm sure it is not a Malabar item, because I never had it for any marriage sadya's in Kannur. Seema Chechi is from Ernakulam and Palghat and her recipes are different from mine, but must say she is a master in veggie food. The day I landed in US for the first time we stayed at Seema chechi's home and  I remember having this pachadi from there. She also added some chopped grapes I guess and it tasted really awesome. I have added raisins instead of grapes since I did not have any grapes at home.

I just love Seema chechi's food and we used to drive from Maryland to New Jersery on many weekends during my first pregnancy when I used to feel sick of my own food  Those were good old days, thanks a lot Seema Chechi for this wonderful recipe. Enjoy!!!!!!
















Ingredients:-

1. Fresh pineapple - 2 cups(cut into small cubes)
2. Green chilly - 4(slit into halves)
3. Salt - to taste
4. Grated coconut - 1 cup
5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
6. Yogurt - 3/4 cup

For seasoning:-

1. Oil -2 tsp
2. Mustard seeds -1 tsp
3. Raisins - 2tbsp
4. Whole dried red chillies - 2
5. Curry leaves - few
6. Urad daal - 1 tsp
7. Water -1/2 cup

Cooking Instructions:-

1. Cook pineapple with green chilli, salt and water. Set aside
2. Grind coconut and mustard seed to a fine paste and add to the cooked pineapple.
3. With a spoon beat the yogurt just to remove the lumps if any and add to the pineapple. Stir everything gently and check for the salt and sourness.
4. Heat the oil in another pan, crackle the mustard seeds, add raisins, curry leaves, urad daal, dried red chillies and saute for a min. Add this to the pachadi.

Hint:- while cooking the pineapple make sure to add very little water. Pachadi should be thick, not watery.
This tastes better after 3-4 hours.