Cucumber Pachadi / Vellarikka pachadi

I love making and having cucumber pachadi. The reason being that, the return on investment is on a greater side. Yes they taste too good for the very little effort put in making them. Especially if it is summer and I wouldn't feel like staying in the kitchen for too long then I choose to make these.

Back in Bangalore, we used to make these quite often. After a hectic day at work, when I end up cooking dinner, they used to be a stress buster resulting in my chopping board having deeper cut marks. And this pachadi used to be such a life saver, since they were easy to make and had kind of a soothing effect that helped me keep my cool :). Anyways, we had missed making them since it was winter here and you would want to eat hot and spicy food during the cold months.

Now when summer is visiting us again, I choose to make it the other day. The taste buds were reminded of the pachadi again and have been demanding for more since then. So, we have started making it often. Today when I made these, I thought of sharing it out here. So here is how I make it.

Ingredients

1. 1 Cucumber/Vellarikka
2. 1 green chilly
3. 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
4. 1 tsp of grated ginger
5. 1 cup of grated coconut
6. 1 cup of thick yogurt
7. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. 2 tbsp of oil
2. 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
3. 1 shallot finely sliced
4. 2-3 red chillies 
5. Curry leaves

Method

• Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds. Now chop them into small thin pieces. Add it into a pan.
• Slice the green chilly and drop them into the same pan. 
• Add a tablespoon of water and salt to it and cook it on medium high heat till the cucumber turns soft.
• In a grinder, add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and run it for just few second untill they break open.
• Now add grated coconut, grated ginger and a tablespoon of yogurt and grind them into a paste.
• Add the paste to the cooked cucumber and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
• Once cooled, add the yogurt and give it a mix.
• For tempering, in a skillet add the oil. Once the oil gets hot, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Now add the sliced shallots, curry leaves and red chilly to it. Once the shallots start changing their colour to brown, remove it from the heat and pour it over the cucumber pachadi mix.
• Serve it with rice.

Tips

1. You could use a mortar and pestle to break open the mustard seeds and drop it directly onto the cooked cucumber.
2. Do not be in a hurry to mix the yogurt with the cooked cucumber mixture, else the curd would break and become watery.