If you ask someone( or anyone) whats the difference between “pachadi and kichadi” , you may end confused! 😀 Google and other blogs ,do have their own versions and explanations to it, which confused me as well. And I’m one among those who doesn’t get contented that easily until they get the exact answer. 😀 So after a fine research I figured out the following…
what Google and other blogs said…..
- Pachadi is sweet whereas Kichadi is not.
- Pacahdi is made with vegetables like pumpkin, ripe banana, beetroot, pineapple , mango etc ,and Kichadi with ladies finger, bitter gourd, vellarika etc
- For pachadi veggies/fruit is cooked in water , and that for a Kichadi its fried/shallow fried.
- Pachadi uses coconut mixture, whereas Kichadi uses only yogurt.
- and so on…
Now, what I figured out after asking few experts ( of course , elders ,grandmothers and few cookbooks! ) or may be ,my version that I want to conclude with,
- Pachadi – crushed mustard is added along with coconut cumin mix.
- Kichadi – 🙂 uses only coconut cumin mix and mustard only for tempering!
- That’s it 😀 , you can literally make pachadi or kichadi with same vegetable, could be sweet or salty. now you know why this is a Pachadi recipe 🙂
Let me not bore you further.. let’s get into cooking..
| ingredients | Qty |
| ladies finger | 250 gms, cut into thin rounds |
| coconut grated | 1/2 a coconut ,grated |
| cumin seeds | a pinch |
| mustard seeds | 1/4 tsp |
| green chilli | 1/2 a green chilli |
| water | 1/4 cup or to grind |
| curd | 1 cup, ( give a quick beating ) |
| salt | as required |
| mustard seeds | 1/2 tsp |
| green chilli | 1, cut into thin rounds |
| dreid red chilli | 4-5 no |
| curry leaves | 2 spring |
| coconut oil | 2-3 tbsp |
Method:
- In a mixer jar take together coconut, cumin and 1/2 a green chilly along with some water and grind it into a fine paste. Crush the mustard seeds seperate and add it to the paste , add rest of the water (from 1/4 cup) and set aside.
- Now, you can either shallow fry or deep fry ladies finger. I just microwaved for 3-4 minutes and then shallow fried it later. Set aside that too.
- Beat the curd with a whisk/ spoon for 1-2 minute and set aside that too.
- Now take a heavy bottom pan , add the ground coconut paste and salt, let it cook for 2 -3 minutes.
- Switch off the stove and add the curd and mix everything well. Salt check.
- In another pan, add oil and spultter mustard seeds, dried red chilliess. to which add green chillies and curry leaves, let it fry a bit.
- Finally add the fried ladies finger also and switch off .
- Pour this over the pachadi and cover with a lid ( DO NOT mix now).
- Mix well at the time of serving.
Notes:
- I recommend to use very less green chilly while grinding, as the pachadi would green chilly at the end.
- use green chilly according to your spice tolerance
- Alternatively ,for spice I fry green chillies along with the tempering.
- Use curd and not yoghurt,that comes in tub/cup.
- Always add the fried ladies finger towards the end and do not mix. This will help in not making it soggy.
Until next time, happy cooking!!
lekshmi 🙂