Gongura Pachchadi

I have reiterated the importance of pickles in Andhra cuisine on Veggieplatter, when ever I posted a pickle/chutney recipe. Undeniably, The pickles are part and parcel of Andhra cuisine. If we don't find pickle on our plates, including breakfast, we feel as if some bland, baby food has been served to us. We are the ultimate, spicy food lovers. When Latha of Masala magic has announced Andhrapradesh cuisine for the RCI event, I am not going to let go the opportunity without posting a pachchadi (pickle/chutney) recipe. Here comes Andhra special, gongura pachchadi.

Obviously as the name suggests, gongura pachchadi is prepared using the gongura leaves.Gongura comes in two varieties, the green stemmed ones (thella gongura) and the red stemmed ones (erra gongura). The red stemmed one is more sour than the green stemmed ones and hence preferred to make the gongura pachchadi. The iron rich leaves have a distinctive sourness.
In our households, gongura leaves are fried and salt is added as a preservative and stored in ceramic jars. This can be used yearlong and we are able to enjoy the pachchadi, even though we could not find fresh leaves where we live.

Storing gongura (the base for the pachchadi) :
You would need more bunches of gongura, if you wish to store. Pluck the leaves from the gongura stalks. Wash the leaves and allow them to air dry on a towel. Dry fry the leaves in a pan. In the process, water is released and so fry till all the water is evaporated. The fried leaves would have a very dark green - black shade. Remove and add sufficient amount of salt to the fried leaves. If sufficient amount of salt is not added, you would notice a layer of mold forming on the top, within a few days. Remove it and add more salt. (That's how it is done. The entire thing is not thrown away). Store it for further use.


Gongura pachchadi:
Ingredients:
Fried gongura - 1 Cup
Peanuts - 1 /4 cup
Sesame seeds - 1/4 cup
Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp
Red chillies - 20
Asafoetida - less than 1/4 tsp
Onion, finely chopped - 1
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds individually till they turn golden brown.
Toast the red chillies slightly to facilitate easy grinding.
Grind gongura, peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds and red chillies into (a coarser) chutney consistency.
Heat oil in a small pan and add asafoetida and onion. Fry the onion on low to medium flame till it turns transparent. Turn off the heat. Add this to the gongura mixture and stir.
Serve with hot rice and a spoon of ghee.

This is my entry for Latha's Andhra Cuisine - RCI

Post a comment