Delicious Vegetarian, No Onion and No Garlic, Gluten Free Side from the Kerala Cuisine made with Juicy Pineapples and a silky coconut and curd based spicy gravy. A Must for Onam and Vishu Sadya.
Being a Palakkad Iyer and growing up eating the best of both Tamil Nadu and Kerala Style food at home, it is tough to choose my favourites at times. I love the spicy tamarind gravies from Tamil Nadu and I have a soft spot for the coconut and curd based gravies from Kerala. One such Kerala recipe that I love to cook when fresh pineapples are in season is the Pineapple Pachadi - An uber delicious side dish made with ripe pineapple, coconut and yogurt based gravy. An absolutel showstopper for Kerala Sadya meals on a banana leaf.
As seductive as the Pineapple Pachadi looks, it is equally heavenly in taste. Chunks of pineapple that lends both sweetness and a bit of tang combined with silky yogurt gravy with spicy chillies, freshly grated coconut, cumin and mustard seeds is the most satisfying bowl of goodness.
The fresh tempering of aromatic curry leaves and mustard seeds in coconut oil transports the dish to another level.
For the Sadya meals (which is served on a banana leaf), a Pachadi forms a prominent position, sometimes with 2 different varieties too. The Pineapple Pachadi is actually a vegetarian side dish consumed with sambar rice or rasam rice.
We don't mind eating them with Rotis too at home and they taste delicious. You might want to check out
Most of Kerala style gravies have simple ingredients namely cumin seeds, green chillies or red chillies (sometimes both). The meals are cooked in coconut oil and even the tempering is done by using coconut oil and aromatic curry leaves.
Some of the Kerala Cuisine Recipes that you may be interested in taking a look at are Avial and Beetroot Thoran
Kerala Vegetarian Cuisine is very simple. Loads of vegetables and sometimes fruits, herbs, fresh coconut and whole spices are used for cooking. The gravy is mildly spiced, usually with green chillies. Yogurt or curd is used as the souring agent in food rather than tomatoes.
The food is primarily cooked in coconut oil (including frying) and that is what our ancestors enjoyed thoroughly after working hard through out the day. Largely, the vegetarian food is gluten free but not vegan as we use curd for gravies and serve our rice with a dollop of ghee and / or sometimes use it for tempering too.
My Mum made the best Kerala style veg food and added her own twists too, just like I do. But whenever I cook the dishes at home, I always end up tasting the first morsel and saying, "Ma makes it so much better". I guess like every child, I am partial to my Mother's cooking.
Taking this recipe to the #179FoodieMondayBlogHop where the theme suggested by dear friend is "FoodMagBest" wherein she encouraged us to post recipes that we would like to see in a magazine.
I chose the Pineapple Pachadi for 2 reasons - It is Regional Cuisine, something that my blog is passionate about and secondly it reminds me of the food I grew up with and would want to be featured some day.
Check out the detailed step by step pics of the Pineapple Pachadi Recipe
Recipe for Pineapple Pachadi (Spicy Kerala Style Coconut Yogurt Gravy)
Heat a thick bottom vessel or kadhai, add the roughly chopped pineapple, turmeric powder and salt to taste along with 2 cups of water. Cook until the pineapple is slightly tender and the water has reduced considerably.
2. Meanwhile, grate / chop the 1/2 shell of coconut, add it in a mixer grinder.
3. Add mustard seeds, whole red chillies, green chillies, cumin and grind it into a smooth paste, using 1/4 cup of water.
4. Whisk the 1/2 cup of yogurt or curd and keep aside.
5. Now add the coconut gravy mixture to the cooked pineapples and mix everything well. Allow it to cook for a few minutes on low flame. Check and adjust salt at this stage.
6. Add a tbslp of jaggery and mix well.
7. Quickly add the yogurt or curd, mix well and switch off the flame immediately. (Yogurt should not cook else it will curdle and split).
8. Let us prepare for tempering by heating a small pan, adding coconut oil, mustard seeds, whole red chillies and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds crackle, pour the tempering over the gravy and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- I got the pineapple peeled from the local fruit vendor hence the prep time in my case is just 15 minutes. All I had to do was core and dice into chunks.
- Use Medium Ripe Pineapples for best results. Extremely ripe pineapples would turn mushy and you wouldn't be able to relish the fruit chunks with the rice.
- Adding of Jaggery is optional but I highly recommend.
- I have cut the coconut into pieces instead of grating it, saves time for me.
- Half a shell of coconut could differ in size from place to place. Do not worry. Trust me, the more the coconut, the better and delicious this gravy tastes.
- You can adjust the spice (red and green chillies) according to your taste.
- Use Fresh Curd that is not tangy and thick. Whip it well so that there are no lumps. Once curd is added, never allow the gravy to boil. Just let it froth and then switch off the flame, else the gravy would curdle. Ideally never reheat the Pachadi or rather all curd based gravies.
Pineapple Pachadi (Spicy Kerala Style Coconut yogurt gravy)
Ingredients
- 1 nos. Medium Size Ripe Pineapple (skin peeled, cored and chopped into thick chunks) Read recipe notes point 1 & 2
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder or haldi powder
- 2 1/4 cups Water (2 cups for cooking pineapple + 1/4 cup to adjust gravy consistency)
- 1/2 cup Thick Fresh Curd or yogurt
- 1 tbsp Jaggery or Vellam
- salt to taste
- Ingredients for the Coconut Gravy
- 1/2 shell Coconut grated
- 2-3 nos. Whole Dry Red chillies
- 1-2 nos. Green Chillies
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds or Rai
- Ingredients for Tempering
- 2 tsp Coconut Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds or Rai
- 1-2 nos. Whole Dry Red Chillies
- Few Curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat a Kadhai, pot or vessel, add the roughly chopped pineapple, turmeric powder and salt to taste along with 2 cups of water. Cook until the pineapple is slightly tender and the water has reduced considerably.
- Meanwhile, grate / chop the 1/2 shell of coconut, add it in a mixer grinder.
- Add mustard seeds, whole red chillies, green chillies, cumin and grind it into a smooth paste, using 1/4 cup of water.
- Whisk the 1/2 cup of yogurt or curd and keep aside.
- Now add the coconut gravy mixture to the cooked pineapples and mix everything well. Allow it to cook for a few minutes on low flame. Check and adjust salt at this stage.
- Add a tbslp of jaggery and mix well.
- Quickly add the whisked yogurt or curd, mix well and switch off the flame immediately. (Yogurt should not cook or boil else it will curdle and split).
- Prepare for tempering by heating a small pan, add coconut oil, mustard seeds, whole red chillies and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds crackle, pour the tempering over the gravy and serve immediately.
Notes
- The prep time in my case is just 15 mins as I got the Pineapple peeled from my fruit vendor. All I had to do was core and dice into chunks.
- Use Medium Ripe Pineapples for best results. Extremely ripe pineapples would turn mushy and you wouldn't be able to relish the fruit chunks with the rice.
- Adding of Jaggery is optional but I highly recommend.
- I have cut the coconut into pieces instead of grating it, saves time for me.
- Half a shell of coconut could differ in size from place to place. Do not worry. Trust me, the more the coconut, the better and delicious this gravy tastes.
- You can adjust the spice (red and green chillies) according to your taste.
- Use Fresh Curd that is not tangy and thick. Whip it well so that there are no lumps. Never cook or allow the gravy to froth once the curd is added. It tends to split, thereby compromising the gravy. Ideally never reheat the Pachadi or rather all curd based gravies.
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Vidya Narayan
Yumm
Thanks
Vidya - Lovely capture ! I totally love the flavour of pineapple in this pachadi and its a must make whenever I find the fruit ..
Thanks so much
Absolutely yummm... So delicious and flavourful. Loved the recipe. Sounds easy too. Will try someday.. Beautiful capture
Thanks Ruchi, sure
Such an interesting dish! Love the combination of flavors.
Thank you so much
I absolutely adore pineapple pachadi, and your version looks really delish! Great photo!
Thanks Priya
wow, I love pachadi
Thank you and same here
Loved the colour of the end dish, Vidya!
Thanks so much Praveena. I unfortunately do not have a great mobile camera and should certainly invest in one too as holding a DSLR while cooking is difficult.
It definitely tantalizes my tastebuds ??
Thank you so much
Well done Vidya, the description you've given about your recipe is totally what one would expect to read in a magazine. As for the recipe, I've heard about pineapple pachadi but have always wondered how cooked pineapple would taste with yogurt based gravy. You've made it sound so delicious.Will try this recipe as I love pineapples.
Mayuri, thank you so much for the kind words! We make pachadi with mangoes and pineapples which are pulpy and slightly tangy as they go well with yogurt.
This pachadi is totally wow! The images are stunning, and so clear that I can almost smell the aroma of the pineapple and taste the coconut.
Thanks so much.
I am a great fan of Pachadi and pineapple pachadi is one of my favourites..Lovely capture Vidya.Fabulous share .
thank you so much
Can relate with your being partial to your mom's cooking, Vidya . Anyways, the pineapple pachadi looks utterly delicious and I simply loved the presentation and picture perfect photograph.
Thank you Poonam
I love this curd based curry with pineapple.. few years back had this at one of my friend's place and I remember having a bowlful of it without anything.... Beautiful capture and the curry looks so full of flavours..
Thank you Swaty.
Pineapple pachadi sounds super tempting Vidya. I can imagine the slightly sweet taste of this dish. And I love this type of taste. Can't wait to try it. I am drooling.
Thanks and I hope you like it.
Pachadi using pineapple sounds so tempting vidya, Love that this is without onion n garlic, so one can prepare in festive days surely !
Thanks Sasmita
Pass the bowl. In my household I am the odd man or should I say woman out as I love anything different from regular food n this pachadi is certainly very different from our everyday food.
Is there a substitute for pineapple as the princess does not like pineapples n the other one mangoes. So unfair ...why can they not dislike one fruit only.
I am sorry I missed forwarding the tweet to you. In case I find the right link will definitely forward it.
Beautifully pictured. The bangles look so traditionally lovely .
Many are not quite fond of pineapples. My mum was the same but she made this for us as she liked the cooked version somehow but not the fruit by itself as it gave her mouth ulcers. One option which I hope your daughter will approve is pumpkin or you can add Okras too. Thanks so much.
Oh my Vidya Narayan, Your pic is outstanding and so is this recipe. As per my idea of a perfect sadhya, it is an offence not to have this beauty on a central top of the banana leaf. Well presented and well trained hand model?
Thank you Seema for the lovely theme, enjoyed it thoroughly. Shall definitely pass on your compliments to the hand model. Haha.
That ia a beautiful Picture Vidya. Loving this theme. It has brought out the best in everyone. Pineapple pachadi looks inviting. Looks too good
I agree about the theme Veena. Glad you liked it. Thank you