Pineapple Pachadi (Spicy Kerala Style Coconut yogurt gravy)
Kerala Style Pineapple Pachadi recipe with step by step pics. Tangy, Sweet and spicy Coconut and yogurt based Side dish from Kerala cuisine for Sadya Meals.
Servings 4 people
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.