Beerapottu Pachchadi / RidgeGourd Peel Chutney

Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena

Prep Time:5 mins   Cooking Time:10 mins   Cuisine:Indian

Ridge Gourd / Beerakaya / Turai is a water vegetable very mild in taste and soft in texture. It has various health benefits like helps in weight loss, is rich in fiber, is used for post-natal recovery,has low cholesterol (info from internet).

It is so nutritious that its ridge skin/peel is also useful for cooking.Bear in mind that peel of FRESH ridgegourd/beerakaya is best suitable for this chutney. Its Vegan + Glutenfree recipe.

We had this chutney as part of our South Indian Telugu Bhojanam/Thali/Platter # 2 

Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips which I mentioned at the end.

Ingredients:

• Ridge Gourd / Beerakaya / Turai – 1 (large size)
• Tamarind/Tamarind pulp – 1 tiny lemon size
• Salt – as per taste
• Coriander – 5 twigs
• Green Chillies – 5
• Dry Red Chillies – 6      

Ingredients For Tempering:

• Cooking Oil – [3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon]
• Fenugreek Seeds / Menthulu – ½ teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds / Aavaalu – ½ teaspoon
• Split Yellow Gram dal /Senaga Pappu – 1 teaspoon
• Urad Dal / Split Black Gram – 1 and ½ teaspoon
• Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds / Jeera – 1 teaspoon
• Sesame Seeds / Nuvvulu – ½ teaspoon
• Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva – half of ¼ teaspoon

Special Ingredients:

• Fenugreek Seeds / Menthulu
• Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva

Procedure:

• Firstly, wash the Ridge Gourd / Beerakaya / Turee thoroughly.

  

• Peel the skin and keep it ready for use.
• Put a small pan stovetop under medium flame and add a teaspoon of oil.
• Then add all the peeled skin of Ridge Gourd/ Beerakaya/ Turee into it.
• Pan fry the peel until it becomes soft by stirring now and then. See pic below.

  

• In the meanwhile, in a small cup add the dry tamarind and pour hot boiling water for it to ooze the pulp.

  

• If you are using readily available tamarind pulp just avoid the above step.
• Now, on the other side, check if the peel has softened enough for the chutney. For this, do refer to the tips I gave below.
• Remove the softened peel from the pan and set aside to cool.
• In the same pan, add the rest of the oil, add all the ‘Ingredients For Tempering’ . See the pic below. 
  

  All pulses & seeds in a small pan with oil

  

  Pan frying the pulses, seeds & dry chillies
• Fry them until they turn light brown then add the red & green chillies and give a gentle mix.
• Switch off the flame immediately and let it cool.

  

• Leave one teaspoon of this tempering aside, as a topping for the chutney, for later use.
• Once its cooled take the softened tamarind, ridgegourd peel/beerapottu ,coriander leaves, enough salt and the fried tempering into a blender.

  

• As shown below, Grind everything coarsely, by adding tamarind water/plain water if needed. 
• Transfer the chutney into a serving bowl and top it with the teaspoon of tempering which we set aside.Done!

Tips:

• I did not use onion or garlic, you can add it during tempering and blend.
• For checking the softness of the peel,  try to cut a piece with a spoon. If it cuts in smoothly, then pieces are soft enough.If not,continue to fry them.
• If the tempering is burnt the chutney would also have a burnt smell. So while frying keep stirring continuously. This would take just 3-4 mins.
• Adjust the salt and spice as per your taste.
• Adding coriander leaves enhances the taste & flavour of the chutney.
• If you add more water,the chutney would turn out more flowing and reduces the life of it.
• Store it in fridge after transferring it into an air-tight container.
• It might stay fresh for a week or so.

Result:

• The taste of this chutney is exotic, when its taken as an accompaniment with rice, roti, paratha, bread, naan, idli, dosa, uthappam etc etc.
• You can have it as a dip for bajjis, pakodas, chips, fritters or as a sandwich spread.
• We had this chutney as partof our South Indian Telugu Bhojanam/Thali/Platter # 2  as in the last pic below.

  

  

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