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Feb
4
Mustard Trilogy 2: Vellarikka Pachadi
February 4, 2010 |
… Lemon Cucumbers in a Coconut-Yogurt Sauce
Mustard Trilogy 1: Shorshe Dharosh
Mustard Trilogy 3: Nepali Cucumber Salad
In Malayalam, Vellarikka = Lemon Cucumber.
This is a refreshing summer salad from Kerala that uses mustard in two forms - ground and whole popped seeds. As with Indian coastal cuisine, its fieriness is tempered by the creaminess of coconut. It’s how my aunt (ammayee) makes it. She also makes an absolutely orgasmic mango version that I shall post the next time I make it.
Lemon cukes taste like tangy honeydew melon and are wonderful eaten as they are, sliced and sprinkled with salt and cayenne. If you have too many of them, as we did last summer, you can either make cook them with lentils,, make Sailu’s Red Hot Andhra Pickle or a Creamy Pachadi.
Last summer’s Lemon Cucumbers
Pachadi is made with raw or lightly steamed veggies or fruit - mangoes, carrots, beets, cucumbers, pineapple, honeydew melon, granny smith apples. Pacha = green, raw.
If it’s sauteed in a bit of oil (like this okra version or this onion version), it’s called Kichadi.
In Grains, Greens and Grated Coconuts, Ammini Ramachandran writes:
“According Indian food historian K. T. Achaya, the earliest recipe for pachadi was found in our neighboring state Karnataka, in a text dating back to 1485. Since ancient times, cooks have come to Kerala from our bordering states Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. They brought with them many recipes, which later became part of our own cuisine.”
(I lifted that quote from Manisha’s comments form. Isn’t it nice when you don’t have to type things from a book ??)
VELLARIKKA PACHADI (Lemon Cucumbers in a Coconut-Yogurt Sauce)
I haven’t tried the vegan version with soy sour cream, but it’s worth a shot. You can also make this with regular cucumbers.
Cube 2 cups lemon cucumbers on a sieve or dish towel. Sprinkle with salt and leave to drain for 20-30 minutes.
Blend to a smooth paste 1 cup frozen or fresh coconut, 1 tsp black/brown mustard seeds, a pinch of turmeric and 2 hot dried red chillies.
Add 1 cup plain yogurt and mix.
Heat 2 tsps coconut or vegetable oil and add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds.
When they pop, add 10-12 fresh curry leaves and let them sizzle for a few seconds.
Add the coconut-yogurt paste and heat on medium until it just begins to simmer. Don’t let it boil or it may split. The idea is simply to get rid of the raw yogurt smell.
Add the lemon cukes and salt to taste. Stir, take off the heat and let it sit covered for 10 minutes.
Serve at room temperature or slightly warm with rosematta rice and naadan parippu.
- bee
Chillies/Peppers, Coconut, coconut oil, Curry leaves, Dairy/Cheese, GARDENING, India, Kerala, Lemon Cucumber, mustard, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes, yogurt
can they be in yellow color too? i have always seen cucumber pachadis in white and also with green chilies. shud try this way too. is it made like this in north of kerala?
my mom’s used to be white. she didn’t add turmeric, and she used green chillies. i guess my aunt likes turmeric.
We have a similar recipe in Karnataka, with or without yogurt…using green chillies. It is called “Kaai(coconut) Sasuve( Mustard) Gojju. Cool, huh? Your post is making me ache for some.. Lovely, Bee.
pictures made me hungry again! I should give it a try when I buy cucumbers next time.
So reminiscent of the ona-sadhyas of my childhood.Btw, have texted you on fb.Would love to hear from you.
VELLARIKKA PACHADI always reminds me of onam:) actually i just asked my mom the recipe for tomato kichadi .
I love ur blog , something tolearn every day . thanx .
I make a similar curry like this - but with jeera instead of mustard - and white pumpkin instead of the cucumber. My mom picked it up from one of her mallu neighbors and It has since then become a comfort food for me.
I’m going to give it a try with mustard soon. Your mustard series are very interesting. I have been too chicken to open that strong smelling mustard oil bottle yet.. but your posts are getting me to move in that direction.
This is great !! it reminds me of a goan dish called Sasav. Genrally made with Hog plums ( ambade in konkani) or tangy raw mangoes. except for yogurt. I will post it soon.
Okay…u’re drawing my tongue to lick the bowl near my screen! Love the colors and its hight time to try out mustard blends!
I thought pachadi was always white, though my manga pachadi turns yellow due to the alphonso. Like inji says we too add green chillies and red ones are used in the tempering only. Vellarikka grows round in the US?
round and small like tomatoes.
Nice to see the lemon cucumber plants. Last summer mine got eaten by squash bugs. Do the flowers take longer to bloom than the regular cucumber plants? And did you start the seeds indoors or directly sowing? Thanks
we plant saplings from the nursery. not sure about when they bloom - about the same time as the armenians.
[...] Mustard Trilogy 2: Vellarikka Pachadi [...]
Bee, I think this vegetable is also called “Dosakai” in Telugu and are sold widely in desi stores in the US? I make sambar with it, have to try your pachadi…looks awesome!