The festival of Onam just doesn’t seem complete without indulging in an extensive spread of delectable South Indian dishes. Traditionally referred to as Onam Sadya, it is a nine-course vegetarian meal served on a banana leaf. The Sadya (or banquet) includes dal, rice, chutney, pickle, curries, sweet dishes and more. As the Malayalis around the globe are celebrating this 10-day festivity with much enthusiasm (from August 22 to September 2, 2020), we bring you a quick and simple recipe of ash gourd pachadi, which is touted to be a star dish in an Onam Sadya spread. For the uninitiated, pachadi is a quintessential South Indian fresh pickle that is served as a side dish with meal.

If you explore, you will find this mildly-spiced dish witnesses some differences in the recipes in all the five states of South India. In Kerala, pachadi is prepared with boiled vegetables, coconut paste and some spices. Likewise, in the ash gourdpachadi recipe, the vegetable is boiled and mixed with coconut-chilli paste and yogurt. A tadka of mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing is then added to the pachadi to make rich and aromatic. Let’s find out the recipe!

Also Read: Onam 2020: How To Make Kerala-Style Parippu Curry (Dal) For Onam Sadya

Here’s The Recipe For South-Indian Style Ash Gourd Pachadi:

Ingredients:

1 cup ash gourd (white pumpkin), de-skin and deseeded

Half cup yogurt

Salt to taste

Half cup grated coconut

2 green chillies (chopped)

Half teaspoon mustard seeds

1-2 teaspoon urad dal

6-8 curry leaves

A pinch of hing

1 whole red chilli

1-2 teaspoon coconut oil

Method:

Step 1. Wash the ash gourd and boil in water, with some salt. Do not over-boil and turn it mushy.

Step 2. Grind the grated coconut with salt, green chilli and some water and prepare a smooth paste out of it.

Step 3. Add the paste to the ash gourd and cook them on low heat.

Step 4. Switch off the flame and add the yogurt to it. Beat the yogurt well before pouring, to avoid any kind of lump.

Step 5. Now, heat oil in a pan and add hing, mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and urad dal and fry everything till the seeds crackle.

Step 6. Add this tadka to the yogurt and coconut paste-mixed ash gourd and a bowl of soul soothing pachadi is ready to be served.

Happy Onam 2020!