Zucchini Pachadi

For the last letter ‘Z’ in this A-Z Challenge, Journey Through Telangana Cuisine, I have a pachadi (chutney) recipe. Letter Z was a tricky one. As I mentioned in my yesterday’s post, I had finalized my dishes for Y & Z when I first made my initial list months ago. When I seriously started working on this BM in February, I realized I might have to reconsider and change the dishes, since I narrowed my theme to Telugu food for this regional cuisine. This is one of the first few posts I scheduled in mid March. The intro might sound more like an intro that ought be done at the beginning of the marathon than on the last day of the marathon. I was very lazy to redo the intro and left it as it is.

I had initially listed Zafrani biryani or pulao for this letter while rest of my group mates were struggling to come up with a dish. When I seriously started working on this BM back in February, I was unsure if I really wanted to do Z for Zafrani. Zafrani biryani and pulao are part of Hyderabad cuisine and Hyderabad is a joint state capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Second, Telangana was part of princely state of Hyderabad and both Hyderabad & Telangana cuisines are influenced by each other’s cuisines. Since I am doing a regional cuisine and more precisely Telugu cuisine, I decided to change my dish.

While I was contemplating if I should change my dish, group also had a discussion on these tough letters. It was decided that for the tough letters we could use an English name, provided it is cooked in regional way. Sticking to my Telugu cuisine, I am doing Z for Zucchini Pachadi and today, blogosphere is going to rain with Z for zucchini recipes 🙂

Zucchini is a squash that looks like cucumber but tastes some what like ridge gourd. Or at least I would replace ridge gourd with zucchini. I usually grill or sauté zucchini with few spices or make a pachadi. I normally add tomatoes to this pachadi and since I am trying regional style of cooking, I left out the tomato. In olden days, as far as I remember, tomatoes were not add to vegetable pachadi (chutney) unless it was a tomatoes pachadi. I also added some dry chilies to give the pachadi some color.

Below image was taken on another day when I made biyyam pindi attulu.

Total Time: 20 – 25 minutes (excludes cooling time)
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves: 2 – 3

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. Oil ( can use less)
• 8-10 Curry Leaves
• 3 – 5 small Green Chiles (I used 6 and it was very spicy. Adjust to taste)
• 3 big cloves of Garlic
• 1 – 2 Red Chilies (I used 3 and it was very spicy. Adjust to taste)
• ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• ½ tsp. Fenugreek Seeds Powder
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 2 medium sized (360 grams) Zucchini
• 1 ¼ – 1 ½ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ tbsp. Roasted Sesame Seeds
• 1 tbsp. Peanuts Roasted
• ½ – 1 tsp. Sugar (Pachadi was very spicy and used 1 tsp. If using less chilies, can skip sugar altogether)
• 1 – 2 tbsp. Tamarind paste (I used homemade tamarind paste and it is is not very tangy )

Preparation:

• Roast sesame seeds and peanuts separately. Cool and make a powder. I always keep roasted sesame and peanuts handy in my pantry as I use these two ingredients a lot in my cooking.
• Grind red chilies, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds to powder. This step is optional. I do not have an Indian mixie / blender and these ingredients do not grind well in my blender and food processor if used whole.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add curry leaves, green chilies and saute until chilies change color.
• Add garlic, spices powder (red chilies, cumin and fenugreek powder) and stir.
• Add zucchini pieces, turmeric powder, stir and cook for few minutes until spices coat zucchini and lightly roasted. Cover and cook until zucchini is tender. Zucchini cooks very fast and keep an eye on it.
• Remove cover and continue cooking until the mixture is dry. Add sesame powder and peanut powder, tamarind paste and salt. Stir and turn off the heat.
• Let the mixture cool completely and grind to a coarse paste. If necessary add some water. I ground in a food processor as I wanted a coarse texture and did not want to add too much water.
• Transfer to a bowl, add sugar and mix well. Taste the pachadi and adjust salt and tamarind to taste.
• Serve it with rice, dosa or use as a spread for sandwich.

This day in 2009 – Cucumber Yogurt Rice and White & Brown Chocolate Chip Cookies
This day in 2014: Dim Posto ~ Egg Curry with Poppy Seeds from West Bengal
This day in 2015: Cranberry Walnut Bread
Events: This post also goes to A-Z Challenge for day 26, letter ‘Z’.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

So far in this A-Z Journey Through Telangana Cuisine,
A for Attu Tunukala Koora
B for Biyyapattlu
C for Chegodi
D for Dondakaya Barada
E for Ellipaya Karam
F for Fenugreek (Menthi) Aaku Pesaru Pappu Koora
G for Garela Pulusu
H for Hyacinth Beans (Anapakaya) Annam
I for Iguru, Goru Chikkudukaya Iguru
J for Jonna Rotte
K for Kudumulu
L for Laddu
M for Makka Gudaalu
N for Nethichamili Muddalu
O for Odappalu
P for Pappu & Pachi Pulusu
Q for Qimah Vundalu
R for Royyala Koora
S for Sakinalu
T for Tamata Pappu
U for Uppudu Pindi
V for Vankaya Poornam
W for Wadiyalu
X for Xtra Spicy Golichona Kodi Koora
Y for Yendu Kobbari Rava Laddu

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