Pineapple Pachadi is a sweet and sour yogurt based side dish made with pineapple, coconut and mild spices like green chillies, mustard and cumin. While pineapple gives this dish a sweetness, mustards and spices like green chillies and ginger give it a pungent taste. Yogurt gives it the required sourness. The blend of all these elements makes this dish delicious. Ground coconut along with mustard seeds, cumin, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves gives this dish a unique flavour. It is a type of South Indian style ‘raita’. Pachadi is part of meals in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is often made with fresh and seasonal vegetables such as okra, cucumber, carrot, beetroot etc. Often times, it is also made with fruits such as mango or pineapple.
In the state of Kerala, Pachadi is often part of sadhya or grand meals such as Onam festival. It is served along with rice, vegetarian curries such as sambar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtmPD8GF-Bk , pappadoms and other condiments. I have earlier posted recipes for beetroot pachadi https://relishdelish.ca/recipes/beetroot-pachadi-kerala-cuisine-beetroot-raita/ and cucumber pachadi https://relishdelish.ca/recipes/vellarika-pachadi-a-dish-made-with-cucumber-and-yogurt/
Pineapple is a tropical healthy fruit which aids in digestion, has anti inflammatory properties and promotes tissue healing. It is one of my favourite fruits and therefore I make this Pineapple Pachadi quite often.
Ingredients
- To grind into a paste:
- For tempering or tadka
Instructions
- Add coconut and ingredients to be ground, with a little water and make a fine paste.
- Peel and cut pineapple into small cubes. You will need about 2 cups for this recipe.
- Place pineapple along with 1/4 cup water, salt to taste, turmeric and a little jaggery in a saucepan. Cook until pineapple pieces are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Now add in beaten yogurt and mix well.
- For tempering (tadka), heat coconut oil in a small pan and add in mustard and fenugreek seeds. When the seeds splutter, add in red chillies, curry leaves and a little asafoetida. Turn off gas.
- Pour the tempering over the pineapple pachadi and serve.