Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Pineapple Pachadi - Pineapple Curry in coconut paste with spices

Pineapple Pachadi is a regular in our kitchen during summer when pineapples are in season. The sweetness of the chunky pineapple pieces and the mild tangyness of the tamarind makes it a mouthwatering delicacy; the hint of mustard in the ground coconut paste adds a subtle yet distinct flavour to it. This sweet-tangy-yummy side dish is one of the delicacies in Palakkad Iyer wedding feasts. For the festive wedding look, fresh ripe and quartered grapes are added as a garnish.

Ingredients –
Ripe, Sweet pineapple pieces, cut into 1 inch cubes – 2 cups ~ ½ a medium sized pineapple
Tamarind pulp extracted from a marble sized ball of tamarind ~ ½ cup
Grated Coconut, fresh or frozen - ½ cup
Mustard Seeds – ¼ teaspoon
Thai green chillies – 2 or 3
Water - ¾ cup
Grated jaggery – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoon or according to your taste
For Tadka -
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoons
Curry leaves – 1 or 2 sprigs, cleaned
Dry Red Chillies – 1 or 2
Methi(Fenugreek) seeds – ¼ teaspoon

Method –
  • In a pan, add the pineapple pieces, water, salt, turmeric powder, jaggery.
    Cover with a lid, cook for 6 to 8 minutes.
  • Add the tamarind pulp, bring it back to a boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes so the raw smell of tamarind is lost. By now the pineapple pieces would have got soft and mushy.
  • Grind the coconut, mustard seeds and green chillies in a blender/mixie to make a fine paste. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as required to assist grinding.
  • Add the ground coconut paste to the boiled pineapple pieces, mix well. Adjust the consistency by adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of water as required, check for salt.
  • Bring the curry to a boil, simmer for 1 minute on low heat, remove from fire.

Tadka-

  • Add oil in a tadka pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the fenugreek and fry without burning. Add the red chillies, curry leaves and remove from fire. Add this tadka to the curry, mix.

Serve with Rice, Tomato Rasam and papads. My mom makes an instant rasam with only tomatoes that goes well with this. Will post it soon.

20 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting,never tried a curry with pineapple.

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  2. Sounds Yummy...I have never tried pineapple pachadi...looks too good to be tried & tasted.

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  3. wow!!
    This is new to me! Grt recipe!

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  4. wat a coincidence dear...i made pineapple pulissery today...!nce click dear!

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  5. hi,
    Tnaks for dropping by :) hope to c u more often :)
    I'd love u visit u often. I haven't tried this as yet. Thanks for the recipe.
    Nice click
    TC

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  6. Vidya ,pachadi looks too yummy to resist..
    Thanks for dropping in to my space
    am adding you to blogroll as well.
    Keep rocking

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  7. Very interesting. I have not had curry with pineapple, but with the coconut and spices, I have no doubt it's delicious!

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  8. Sounds yum and interesting.I have never tried pineapple with coconutmilk and spices, surely will give a try.

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  9. Thanks for dropping by my blog. You have a neatly organised blog here!Great recipes vidya.

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  10. Vidya, thank you for dropping by my blog. Will be visiting here often. Love this pachadi. These days,this is often served in kalayana sadyai.

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  11. Like Jayasree said, reminds me of festive sadyas. This dish is almost always served.

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  12. New to me....looks yum....nice blog makeover.....

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  13. Pineapple and coconut is fantastic combination, lovely click, feel like grabbing the bowl right away :)

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  14. Thanks everyone for your lovely comments.

    Regards,
    Vidya

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  15. The sweet pineapple must be really vibrant in this pachadi. What a lovely recipe, Vidya.

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  16. o vidhya!! ur pachadi is fab!!! i did a little variation though... i added more jaggery... infact i grated some jaggery and soaked them in water for sometime.. then i added this water for boiling pineapple..:)

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  17. just wanted to post this as well.. i made the pachadi for potluck this saturday and it was a biggg 'HIT'!!.. not just our desi guys but even my Brazilian friends loved it!!

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  18. Thanks Reshmi for both the comments. I am so glad to hear that you and your friends enjoyed it.

    Regards,
    Vidya

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Welcome to my humming, happy kitchen. I really appreciate your input. Thanks for stopping by!
Vidya