Monday, October 31, 2011

Pumpkin Pachadi/Mathan Pachadi



Time is just flying by. My younger daughter is growing up so fast. She’s already started talking. Her childish jabbering is so cute. I am always in awe at how fast she grasps each word and repeats it. I just love the way she calls out to her elder sister Aiye! Akka! Chamtha Akka! (Samyukta Akka), that’s 2 times and if she doesn’t listen, then it changes to Aiye Chamta, Chamta!!

She is also becoming naughtier by the day.  I sometimes wish that I had an extra pair of eyes, hands and legs to take care of my lil one. One moment she is in the dining room, eating something and I think she’s busy eating, but I’m proven totally wrong, cos the moment I get up to run a small errand, she’s has run off too.  I cut open the milk packet and empty it into the vessel. Then in a flash I see the vessel is gone. My daughter is running with the vessel, spilling milk all over. Ha ha! Even by mistake if I leave the bathroom door open, within 2 minutes I can see her coming out wet all through. These are just a few of her antics. This post sure is not enough to list down what all she does.

It is so much fun to see her grow, but definitely a full time job for one adult. I’m thoroughly enjoying this stint of motherhood.

Now let’s get to today’s recipe, Mathan pachadi. This saucy preparation is generally prepared as an accompaniment to Molagootal or Molagushiam. It is a typical Palakkad Iyer recipe and is one of my favorites. It is a simple dish where in pumpkins are cooked in tamarind and simmered in coconut - chili paste.  Other vegetables like brinjal, lady’s finger and Malabar Vellarikai can be used instead of pumpkin. Do try this out, even if you don’t prepare molagootal or molagushyam, it tastes very good with simple curd rice too.

What you’ll need

1.       Pumpkin – 250 gms
2.       Tamarind – gooseberry sized ball
3.       Turmeric Powder – a pinch
4.       Jaggery – 1 tsp
5.       Salt to taste

To Grind

1.       Scraped Coconut – ½ cup
2.       Green Chillies – 1 or 2
3.       Mustard Seeds – 1/8th of tsp

For Seasoning

1.       Oil – a tsp
2.       Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
3.       Methi /Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp
4.       Dried Red Chillies – 1 broken
5.       Curry Leaves – few

Method

1.       Soak tamarind in hot water. Squeeze, extract tamarind pulp. Add about a cup of water.
2.       Peel and cut the pumpkin into square slices of ½ inch thickness.
3.       Add the pumpkin pieces, turmeric powder and salt to the tamarind extract. See to it that the pumpkin pieces are immersed in the tamarind else add little more water.
4.       Let this boil, cover and cook till the pumpkin pieces are cooked.
5.       In the meanwhile, grind coconut, green chillies and mustard seeds into a smooth paste adding little water.
6.       After the pumpkin pieces are cooked, add the ground paste, jaggery and simmer. Check for salt.
7.       Now, heat a small frying pan with oil, splutter mustard seeds and methi seeds. Then add the dried red chillies. Pour this over the pachadi and garnish with curry leaves.
Tasty mathan pachadi is ready to be served with rice and molagootal or molagutiam. Also tastes good with curd rice.



Linking this to Kerala Kitchen hosted by Khushi and to healing food – Coconut by Sukanya.

31 comments:

chef and her kitchen said...

nice n yummy pacchadi..nice side dish 4 rice

MyKitchen Flavors-BonAppetit!. said...

mmm...Yum Yum Pumpkin Pachadi Dear,Luks deliciously impressive. Luv it.

Radhika said...

HI Kaveri! Like the new makeover of your space. Nice and perfect snap the first one. Love this pachadi anytime. BTW what is your younger daughter's name?

Kaveri Venkatesh said...

@Radhika,
Elder one is Samyukta and younger one is Suchitra

divya said...

Wow looks yummy and delicious .... Very tempting clicks ....

Prema said...

Delicious pachadi,Luks so tempting...

Suja Manoj said...

Yummy and healthy side dish..love the color

Julie said...

Yummy n delicious!!
Following you since long ..
Hope u'll follow my space publicly,Kaveri!!

Sravs said...

so colorful and very healthy too!!

Ongoing Event - Festive Food

Priya Suresh said...

Fantastic dish, tempting and inviting..

Tina said...

Yummy and delicious pachadi..

Swathi said...

Delicious and very tasty pachadi

Sensible Vegetarian said...

Lovely one Kaveri, looks delicious.

Sobha Shyam said...

nice pachadi Kaveri, looks so delicious, nice to read about ur naughty lil one, hugs to her..i am also enjoying the motherhood with my naughty son :)

Sangeetha M said...

wonderful pachadi..good one kaveri...
love your lil' princess and her antics...enjoy dear... a big Hug to her :)

aipi said...

Perfect fall recipe ~ love the color n the spices used!
USMasala

R said...

luv it nicely presented, it was fun to read abt ur little one too :)

Unknown said...

Delicious Pachadi. Simple yet superb presentation.

Pushpa said...

Beautiful color,yummy pumpkin curry.

Unknown said...

Pachadi looks tangy adn yummy.

Jeyashris Kitchen said...

nice authentic recipe, i have heard abt this but never tried this.

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

sounds utterly flavorful n yummm..
Tasty Appetite

Gayathri NG said...

Absolutly delicious curry n perfect with rice...

Saji said...

Very nice recipe

Neha said...

I can imagine your daughter running with the milk pot...it's so cute...My son has become a big boy now{ 6years } and I really miss his antics....Pachadi looks yummy...

Urmi said...

Very interesting and innovative dish. Looks delicious and yummy.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for sending this nice and yummy pachadi to healing foods

Deep Krishna Dubai said...

Thanks ..gonna try this today..
www.deepsrecipes.com

Unknown said...

Hi I love it with mazhakvarthii too. Your recipe are similar to my patty Recipe. Childhood memories..

Jay said...

This dish is called “aana pachadi” in Palghat. Favourite in my house.

Shankar said...

Keerai molagootal and mathan pachadi combo has been my favourite for over 60 years. Particularly with a grated carrot salad and a lemon spicy pickle on the side. I've been using your recipe for a few years now. Since I prefer the molagootal dark green, i microwave the spinach for 5 mins on high before running it thru the blender.

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