Andhra Gongura Pachadi Recipe

Andhra Gongura Pachadi Recipe

Andhra Gongura Pachadi Recipe is tangy, sour, hot and spicy and will surely tickle your palate and you will be asking for more. I am a North Indian but my love for Andhra food is very strong. Having mastered the art of cooking the traditional Andhra dishes. I love this pachadi and I  started growing it in my organic kitchen garden.

Organic Garden

Organic gardening has many advantages; taste for one, nothing can taste better than fresh vegetables straight off the plant. An explosion of flavour that is incomparable to market-bought produce. Most fruits and veggies can be tasted right there in the garden. The best part is, I plucked the Sorrel leaves and directly went to the kitchen to make this chutney and this is a recipe from the garden to table in half an hour. Does it get fresher than this?

Andhra Gongura Pachadi Recipe

This Pachadi or Sorrel Sauce is essentially a part of native Telugu cuisine. It is actually a summer crop, and the hotter the place, the better it grows. But I am growing it all year round. Gongura pachadi brings back carefree childhood memories of eating at the neighbour’s every day. Aunty had four girls of her own and we 4 siblings were always there and so were my cousins. If I close my eyes, I can still smell the aroma from her kitchen and the way she used to mix hot steamed rice liberally drizzled with ghee and feed us all one by one. I can never ever match her cooking but I do try.

Gongura leaves

The Gongura, Sorrel or Kenaf leaves are very low in calories and rich in protein when compared with other leafy vegetables. Sorrel leaves are added to other vegetarian and non-vegetarian food preparations to give it a zing.

Now that I have sorrel growing in my front yard I am going to try other recipes like Gongura Pappu (lentils), Gongura chicken and Gongura pulihora made with Gongura as the main ingredient. When cooked with tur dal or lentil, a pickle, it perks up, more like delights the taste buds and makes you crave for its unique taste.

Growing in my garden and just harvested is Mango Ginger and the Mamidi allam pachadi is awesome and so is Nalleru Pachadi. While on chutneys do check out the Orange peel chutney which is absolutely yummy.

Recipe for  Andhra Gongura Pachadi

Ingredients:

250 Gms Gongura or Sorrel leaves

10 dry red chillies

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

10 Garlic pods

Rock salt as required

For the tempering:

2 dry red chillies broken into half

1 tbsp chana dal or horse gram

1 tsp mustard seeds

5 curry leaves

Method:

Wash the leaves and let them drain nicely in a colander. There is no need to chop it.

Heat a pan and dry roast the leaves so that they are rid of all moisture. Add oil and sauté till the leaves turn mushy and pulpy.

Heat the kadhai and add the oil, add coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin and saute for a minute, add garlic and sauté lightly. Remove it from pan and keep aside to cool.

In a blender, take the red chillies, coriander, and cumin. Add the mushy leaves and rock salt to taste and grind to a paste.

Transfer the chutney to a dish and keep aside.

Now for the tempering-

Take 1 tbsp oil and heat it. Add dry red chillies till they are crisp. Then add the chana dal, mustard seeds, and curry leaves and once they all splutter season the paste in the dish. You can add a pinch of asafetida or hing if you want to. I ran out of it and hence omitted it.

Mouth-watering Andhra Gongura Pachadi or Sorrel Sauce is ready. Homemade gongura chutney is awesomely tangy, spicy and delectable. I was salivating while cooking this tangy sauce and could not wait to eat it. I had steamed rice ready while I made the chutney and mixed a huge spoon of it into the hot rice. Drizzle a spoon of ghee or clarified butter if you want to enter gourmet heaven as I did.

This pickle goes well even with dosas. It is up to you how you want to relish it.

This yummy Andhra Gongura Pachadi or Sorrel Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for a few months.

Andhra Gongura Pachadi Recipe

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Course Chutney

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Ingredients

  

• 250 Gms Gongura or Sorrel leaves
• 10 dry Red chillies
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• 10 pods garlic
• Rock salt as required
• For the tempering:
• 2 dry dry red chillies broken into half
• 1 tbsp chana dal or horse gram
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 6 curry leaves

Instructions

 

• Wash the leaves and let them drain nicely in a colander. There is no need to chop it.
• Heat a pan and dry roast the leaves so that they are rid of all moisture. Add oil and sauté till the leaves turn mushy and pulpy.
• Heat the kadhai and add the oil, add coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin and saute for a minute, add garlic and sauté lightly. Remove it from pan and keep aside to cool.
• In a blender, take the red chillies, coriander, and cumin. Add the mushy leaves and rock salt to taste and grind to a paste.
• Transfer the paste to a dish and keep aside. Now for the tempering-
• Take 1 tbsp oil and heat it. Add dry red chillies till they are crisp. Then add the chana dal, mustard seeds, and curry leaves and once they all splutter season the paste in the dish. You can add a pinch of asafetida or hing if you want to. I ran out of it and hence omitted it.
• Mouth-watering Andhra Gongura Pachadi or Sorrel Sauce is ready. Homemade gongura chutney is awesomely tangy, spicy and delectable. I was salivating while cooking this tangy sauce and could not wait to eat it. I had steamed rice ready while I made the chutney and mixed a huge spoon of it into the hot rice. Drizzle a spoon of ghee or clarified butter if you want to enter gourmet heaven as I did.
• This pickle goes well even with dosas. It is up to you how you want to relish it.
• This yummy Andhra Gongura Pachadi or Sorrel Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator.

Notes

1. The pachadi should not be too thick
2. Use enough oil in the tempering so that the pachadi stays oily.
3. Reduce the number of red chillies according to taste.