THAKKALI PACCHADI

Iam a huge fan of Pacchadi. The only Pacchadi that I grew up eating was the one made with Vellarikka which Jaanu Chechy made for us occasionally. It is also known as 'Banni' in Kannur. Jaanu Chechy is an expert at making Vellarikka Pacchadi & Kannur style Meen Curry that whenever we get a chance, we ask her to make it for us. Even now, whenever I go home the request never stop! If she is coming home to help, chances are that there will either be her Meen Curry or Pacchadi on the table by lunch time!

Later when I was in college, Mini aunty would make her special Paccha Manga Pacchadi for lunch which was extremely delicious! I would literally eat just that and maybe a spoonful of rice. It's made very differently from the way Jaanu Chechy made hers. It did not have the ground coconut & mustard paste in it.  So I used to be confused as to why it was called a Pacchadi!

When I moved to Minnesota, I've seen many call the usual salad that we serve for Biriyani, the raw onion-tomato-green chilli- yogurt kind of salad as Pacchadi. So basically a Pacchadi can mean different things to different people depending on where you were raised! :-) I got this recipe from 'Ente Tharavaadu Pachakam', a cookbook Amma gifted me close to a decade ago. It's the second most used cookbook in my collection, the first being Amma's handwritten family favourite recipe book for me.

THAKKALI PACCHADI
Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
A sprig of curry leaf
Salt
1 cup water

Grind together:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 cup thick plain yogurt

Tempering:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 dried red chilies

Method: Into a saucepan, add the tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric powder, curry leaves, salt and water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 6-8 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and very soft. In the meantime, grind together grated coconut, mustard seeds & cumin seeds along with some water to a very fine paste. Add the yogurt and blend it for 30 seconds.
Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the ground coconut - yogurt mix to it and cook stirring continuously over low heat till the mixture begins to steam. Turn off the heat and set aside. Do not let it boil or else the mixture will spilt and it will look ugly.
In a pan, heat the coconut oil and pop the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves & dried red chilies, give it a quick stir and pour it over the pacchadi. Adjust salt and let it sit, partially covered for 1-2 hours for the flavours to meld.

I made this for us just yesterday and now that Vishu is just around the corner, I thought I'd share this recipe with you all. This is a very easy side dish to make but you need to be careful about not letting the mixture boil. Once it splits, it looks ugly even though it will taste just fine. So just keep stirring it and as soon as the mixture begins to steam, turn off the heat. If you'd like, you can continue to stir it for another minute so that the residual heat doesn't let it split. I do that especially when I make Moru Kachiyathu where it's mostly yogurt.
We love this with Matta rice and a thoran on the side. I prefer to make Pacchadi a few hours before serving time,so that the yogurt gets a chance to turn a little sour. It kind of makes the Pacchadi taste even better, especially when you make it with Vellarikka.