Pedatha's Ginger Chutney / Allam Pachchadi

When I was visiting my cousin in the US a couple of years back, she had jars of pickles and pachchadis made by her mother-in-law, stacked up in her refrigerator. Her husband's family is originally from Andhra and the pickles and chutneys were absolutely lip-smacking



This particular allam pachchadi / ginger chutney was at the breakfast table every morning. We had it with dosas regularly and one Sunday, her husband made these amazing pesarattus for breakfast. That and the allam pachchadi, for me, was a match made in heaven ! After I got back, I have been craving that ginger chutney, especially when I made pesarattu

Finally got down to making this from Pedatha's book. Absolutely delicious if you love the flavour of ginger as much as I do !

Ginger Chutney / Allam Pachchadi
Recipe Source : The vegetarian cookbook of traditional recipes "Cooking at home with Pedatha"
by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain

What you need -

1 cup peeled and grated ginger
3 tbsp tamarind pulp
1 tbsp jaggery
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

1st tempering
1.5 tbsp split black gram / urad dal
1 tbsp mustard seeds
3-4 red chillies
1/2 cup curry leaves
1 cup coriander leaves (optional)
1 tsp asafoetida / hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2nd tempering
1/2 tsp split black gram / urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

What you do with it -

In a wok / kadai, heat the ghee and fry the grated ginger well for 4-5 mins. The ginger should turn light red in colour
Do not over cook, the ginger needs to retain some of its juice. Set aside
In another wok / kadai, heat 1.5 tbsp oil for the first tempering. Add the urad dal and as it turns golden, pop the mustard seeds
Turn off the flame and add the red chillies. As they turn bright red, add the rest of the ingredients under 1st tempering and stir
grind this along with the tamarind pulp, jaggery and salt to a coarse paste
Add the cooked ginger and grind coarsely. Do not add any water while grinding
Heat the remaining oil for the 2nd tempering
Add the gram, as it turns golden, pop the mustard and switch off the flame
Garnish the chutney with this tempering
Serve with idlis, dosas, rice or my favourite, pesarattu!

Pedatha's tip: Avoid the coriander leaves if you want to preserve this chutney for a longer time

Pedatha's Andhra Chutney Powder

A couple of weeks back, I chanced upon Pedatha.com, when I was following some links from some other sites. 'Cooking at home with Pedatha' has become a standard reference book specially for chutneys, ever since I was gifted this book by Miri

I got to know thru this, that she had passed away earlier this year, and though my association with her was just this book, I did feel a loss...



I regularly try recipes from this book, but the chutneys are my favourite...I knew I just had to make something as a tribute to this very wonderful and charming woman.
I had never tried any of her dry chutney powders, so decided on making this one, a famous Andhra spicy chutney powder...

Thank you Jigyasa and Pratibha for this wonderful book. May her soul rest in peace...

Andhra Podi Chutney

Recipe Source - The vegetarian cookbook of traditional recipes "Cooking at home with Pedatha" by Jigyasa Giri and Pratibha Jain

What you need -

4 tbsp oil
2 tsps ghee
salt to taste

To be roasted without oil
1 cup bengal gram dal / chana dal
1 cup split black gram husked / urad dal
1 tbsp poppy seeds / khus khus
3/4 cup grated dry coconut / kobri

To be roasted in oil
2 cup red chillies ( I used about 20 byadgi chillies)
1/2 cup cleaned and wiped curry leave
1/2 tsp asafoetida / hing
lemon sized ball of tamamrind

Tempering
1 tbsp Split black gram / urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida / hing

What you do with it -

On a low flame, dry roast the grams, each separately to a deep brown. I use a tava to do this, given a more even heat to the grams
Dry roast poppy seeds and dry coconut each to golden brown
Heat 3 tbsp oil and roast the chillies until crisp and bright red, but not brown Remove the chillies from oil and set aside
Roast the curry leaves in oil until crisp and dark green, set aside
Dry roast the asafoetida powder
Next, roast the tamarind, Press with a ladle so it roasts well and set aside
Grind all these ingredients with salt to a coarse powder
Heat the remaining oil for tempering. Add the urad dal, as it turns golden, pop the mustard and switch off the flame. Add the asafoetida and pour this tempering into the prepared powder and mix well
Pour in the warm ghee and mix well. Cool and store in an airtight jar

Rainy weekend and some Bisi Bele Bhath

Ahmedabad has had some very unexpected showers over the last few weeks. Over the last two years here, the monsoon has ranged from 2 hours to 2 days, but this time, its been over 2 weeks !!
Sunday was one more of those downpour days...It has definately cooled down the place a lot, but the city is just not equipped to handle the rains, the roads are flooded and stepping out of the house for anything is a big mess...



This is the view from my balcony - an otherwise empty piece of land which has become a mini lake and had a buffalo enjoying a sunday swim !!

Rains again this Sunday meant our usual weekend meal out was out of the question..
I didnt want to go out to even buy the basic vegetables...Had to make do with what I had...TH was back after a few days of travelling out on work and he always prefers some simple home food...



Miri had gifted me this book 'Cooking at home with Pedatha', when she was here in Feb and though I have been reading it up and admiring all those lovely pictures, I always planned, but somehow never landed making anything from this book.

The bisi bele hulianna / bisi bele bhath was definately on my list and it sounded perfect for a sunday lunch. Plus since its a one pot meal, you dont have to think up of too much to go with it... Cucumber raita and some garlic vadiyos/ vadams /crispies and we were all set...



I've always liked bisi bele and really like eating it hot with lots of boondi and raita...The flavours were so good and reminded me of this place in Bangalore from where we had packed this a few times...'Nammoora', a small place in South Bangalore, which only parcels food and expects you to bring the boxes along..Their bisi bele bhath is to die for..

This tasted almost as good...
Thank you Miri, this book is a real treasure...

What you need -

1 heaped cup uncooked rice
1 level cup split red gram (tur dal)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 large onion
1 medium potato
1 medium carrot
7-8 french beans (I didnt have these)
1 green capsicum (my addition)
1 long brinjal (my addition)
3 tbsp tamarind pulp
2 slit green chillies
10-12 curry leaves
4-6 tbsps ghee (ok, i used 2-3 tsps)
2-3 tbsp oil
salt to taste

The 1st powder
1/2 cp bengal gram (chana dal)
1/4 cup split black gram (urad dal)
1/4 coriander seeds
6-7 red chillies
3 sticks cinnamon
4 cloves

The 2nd powder (this one rocks !!)
1/2 cup grated dry coconut (kopra / kobri)
1/4 cup coriander leaves

Tempering

1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
6-8 cashewnuts (my addition)

What you do with it -

Pressure cook the rice in 3 cups water till soft
Pressure cook the turdal in 3 cups water with a little turmeric. Churn and set aside
Chop the vegetables into bite-sized peces
For the 1st powder, dry roast the grams and coriander seeds separately, until deep brown. Heat 2 tsp oil and roast the red chillies. Grind these with the cinnamon and cloves to a fine powder
For the 2nd powder, wash the coriander leaves and pat dry. Roast the dry coconut until golden brown. Grind along with coriander leaves, without adding any water
In a large wok, heat the remaining oil for tempering,dd the ingredients under tempering and when the cashenuts turns brownish, add the vegetables
Cover and cook, adding a little water if necessary
Mix together the tamarind pulp, 1st powder and the cooked dal in 1 cup of water and make a smooth paste. Add this to the vegetables and cook for 2-3 mins. Here, Pedatha suggests adding some sugar. I added 1 tbsp grated jaggery
Add the cooked rice, green chillies, curry leaves and salt and stir for another 5 mins
Just before taking it off the heat, add the 2nd powder and ghee
Stir well and serve hot with vadams/ crispies and a raita