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Dondakaya Pachadi or Tindi Chutney

Ivygourd (Tindi) is a wonderful vegetable that has its own unique taste that comes alive when cooked with minimum flavor enhancing spices. And the best preparations are made from the unripe pods (the ones not red from the inside).


And for those times when the pods ripen before you've had a chance to cook with them there are interesting recipes like the Dondakaya Chutney or Pachhadi. There are many ways in which it is made heres how I made it to go with dosas.



Heres what you need:

1 Cup Ivy gourd (Tindi), chopped into thin slices
3/4 Cup Tomatoes chopped 
1 tsp tamrind juice
3 Tbsp Coconut Powder 

1 tsp grated ginger garlic

1 + 1 tsp oil 
1/2 tsp Ama Spice Mix  and Sendha Namak

Mustard
Urad Dal
Jeera
Asefotida 
Curry leaves
for the tempering

Heres what you do:

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add ginger garlic and Ama Spice Mix. Stir to coat oil and to it add the gourd and tomatoes and sendha namak togeather. Stir constantly to coat. Cover it with a water filled plate on top and cook it for around 3 minutes or so. We want the veggies to lose some water and soften, the tomatoes should also soften but not the gourd. Mash or blend to get a semi-smooth consistency. Add tamarind juice, coconut powder and stir.

If you want to make a slightly more chunky and less watery version, skip covering with a water filled plate.

Heat oil separately for tempering. Add the tempering ingredients sequentially as mentioned and pour the tempered oil on the Pachhadi. Mix and serve with dosas, idlis or Rice.

And here's why we do what we:

When cooking, oil is an important ingredient. What you add to the hot oil actually determines the dominant flavor of the dish. Notice here we add many ingredients to the oil fairly quickly. The idea is to keep the flavor of all ingredients intact.

The word Pachadi is from South of India and refers to a traditionally prepared side dish. And traditions in every part of the country differ.

The definition of the word ‘Pachadi’ is different among different South Indian regions. While in Kerala and Tamilnadu, pachadi is sidedish curry similar to north Indian Raita, in Andhra Pradesh, pachadi is analogous to Indian pickles and is preserved for several months. In Kerala and Tamilnadu states pachadi is eaten fresh and typically made of finely chopped and boiled vegetable with essentially coconut, green or red chillies and tempered in oil with mustard seeds, ginger and curry leaves. 

Interestingly Pachadi is similar to Pachaka which is the Sanskrit word for the act of digestion. So Pacha + Adi means the begining of digestion. While the other Indian word for such a condiment 'Chatni' means a food that can be licked. And since this one is prepared a little chunky, where vegetables are not cooked completely, its more like a Pachhadi.

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