Vellarikka Pachadi / Cucumber Raita

I couldn’t take the pictures of all the dishes I made for Onam, yet managed to take some pictures of the recipes. Kichadi/Pachadi prepared from vegetables such as pine apple, cucumber (vellarikka), ladies finger (vendakka) , bitter gourd (pavayka) or similar, using yoghurt mixed with ground coconut, mustard etc. as masala. Cooked dish will be seasoned with mustard seeds spluttered in coconut oil. Taste of kichadi / pachadi is related to the vegetable ingredient- like the pine apple will be sweet and bitter gourd will be sour etc. I am still not sure of what are Pachadi and Kichadi. I think for Pachadi we grind mustard along with coconut and for Kichadi we just season with mustard with the other ingredients. I made Vellarikka Pachadi for Onam. Vellarikka is kept for Kerala New year (Vishu Kani) and pachadi is made for Sadhya (feast). I don’t see this veggie often at stores, but this time it was available during Onam. So here goes the recipe!!

Things you need

• Peel the skin of Cucumber and finely chop them.
• Grind (½ cup coconut, 3 green chilies, 1tsp mustard, and ½ tsp cumin seeds)
• ½ cup - 1 cup curd or yogurt.
  

Method

• Heat pan with little oil, and add the cucumber with 2-3 tsp of water and salt and cover cook for few minutes until the cucumber gets cooked.

• Add the ground paste to it and cook in medium heat. You can add little water if you need --the mixture should be thick.

• Mean while- heat oil in another pan, splutter mustard seeds, 2-3 red chilies, and curry leaves. Add the above seasoning to the cucumber mixture and switch off the heat.

• Allow the mixture to cool and add ½ to 1 cup of beaten curd or yogurt to the mixture.

Have with rice or as a side dish.

See fellow bloggers pachadi’s: Beetroot Pachadi, Cucumber Kichadi / Pachadi, Pineapple Pachadi, Mango pachadi, and Green Banana Pachadi.