Cookbook Series: Pumpkin - Mango Pachadi

'Pachadi' is a popular South Indian side dish that is usually served with rice along with curries like sambhar or dhal. You can say it is the South Indian version of Raita (which is common in North India). Finely chopped vegetables are mixed with yogurt flavoured with mustard tempering. Of course, there are many variations and the types of pachadi are probably endless! They can be sweet, sour or spicy depending on the flavour imparted by the vegetable used. For e.g. pachadi made with pineapple is sour while pachadi made with ripe mangoes is sweet.

This is a simple recipe that combines pumpkin with raw mango. A novel combination that I have never heard of and hence, was curious to try out. Both pumpkin and raw mango take very less time to cook which makes this a very quick dish. Goes well when served with steamed rice and sambhar along with a spicy pickle.

Pumpkin - Mango Pachadi: Recipe

(Source: The Family Cook Book by K.M.Mathew)

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - 1/2 cup finely chopped
• Raw mango - 1 medium finely chopped
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Dry red chillies - 3 split
• Onion - 1 small finely chopped
• Green chilli - 1 finely chopped
• Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
• Curry leaves - few sprigs
• Yogurt or thick curd - 1 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tsp

 Method:

1. Cook pumpkin and raw mango with little water. Make sure you keep an eye on it and remove it from the flame as soon as the water dries out.
2. In a small pan, heat some oil and add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the the dry red chilli, ginger, green chilli, onion and curry leaves. Fry well for few seconds till they are crisp.
3. Pour this tempering over the cooked pumpkin and raw mango. Stir in the yogurt and season with salt.

Linking this to Anjali's Cooking Made Easy With Yogurt and Kerala Kitchen Event hosted by Ramya: