Beerakaya Thokku Pachadi

This pachadi was introduced to me by my mom. Ever thought of throwing away the peel of veggies like ridge gourd, chow chow? Next time don't throw them away. Save them to make a delicious pachadi which your entire family would love. And most of them wouldn't even guess what the pachadi is made of.







One important thing to note is that the amount of tempering used varies according to the amount of the peel or the veggie used. I mostly go by eye ball measurement. Once you prepare one pachadi you'll get a hang of the amount of tempering to choose. Also vary the amount of red chillies based on your spice level.

One other way to prepare is to eliminate red chillies in tempering and use green chillies instead. While using green chillies, saute them along with the peel/veggie. grind the veggie, green chilli and the tempering

So go ahead and have fun making it.

Ingredients

• peel of ridge gourd / beerakaya / peerkanga - 1/2 cup
• Methi seeds / fenugreek - 1 tsp
• Urad Dal - 2 tsp
• Mustard - 1 tsp
• Red Chillies - 5-6
• Turmeric - 1/8 tsp
• Tamarind - small marble size
• Hing - 1/8 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - as required

Procedure

• In a pan, saute the peel of ridge gourd with little turmeric and keep it aside to cool.
• In a pan, add a little oil. When it heats up, add fenugreek and let the colour change.
• Add mustard, urad dal, red chillies and fry until nice aroma spreads around and the colour changes. Take care not to burn any of the ingredients.
• Turn off the stove and add the tamarind, hing and let all the ingredients cool.
• In a mixie jar, run the sauteed peel along with the tempering adding enough salt for the pachadi. If aren't able to get desired consistency, you may add a little water.

This pachadi can be stored in a air-tight container in the fridge. Its best consumed within 3 days. In the similar way, you can use chow chow peel to make pachadi.


Pachadi with veggies

• With the same tempering you can also make capsicum pachadi, cabbage pachadi and a whole lot of other varieties. Just saute the veggie. Prepare the tempering. Grind them together with enough salt.
• For brinjal pachadi, there are 2 ways in which you can prepare. First is the simple sauteing of the brinjal in oil till its tender. The second one is to apply a drop of oil on the brinjal and cook it over naked flame or microwave it for about 6-7 minutes. Remove the burnt peel of the brinjal and mash it. Run this in the mixer along with the tempering.
• The point to remember is that the tempering remains the same for any pachadi. What makes each pachadi taste different is the veggie you choose. :)

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