Beerakaya Pachadi ( Ridge Gourd chutney )

" Beerakaya Chutney " is a simple recipe, easy to prepare and very delicious to taste. We usually take care in selecting the right Ridge Gourd before we purchase them. For this recipe, any kind of Ridge Gourds are good, even if they are not tender. No need to go for tender Ridge Gourds here. But taste the pieces for any bitterness before you cook them.

For this recipe, we need the following ingredients.
Ingredients:
Ridge Gourd pieces ( Beerakaya Mukkalu ) - 2 cups
Green Chillies ( Pachi mirchi ) - 4
Tamarind ( Chintha pandu ) - small goose berry size
Black gram ( Minapapappu ) - 1tsp
Cumin seeds ( Jeelakarra ) - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds ( Aavaalu ) - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Turmeric ( Pasupu ) - a pinch
Coriander leaves ( Kothimeera ) - to garnish
Curry leaves ( Karivepaaku ) - few
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 3 tsp

Method:
Take a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil in it. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and allow them to splutter.

Now add hing, chopped green chillies,curry leaves, tamarind, turmeric and ridge gourd pieces.

Add required amount of salt, close them with a lid and allow them to cook until they are tender. Now add chopped coriander and stir for 2 mins and switch off the stove. Allow the pieces to cool and then grind them. We can grind to it a crispy level, not very smooth, it should have crunchy pieces of Ridge Gourd. This gives the chutney, a very good taste.

Now take a pan, heat one spoon of oil in it, add the black gram and fry it till golden and add the black gram to the chutney just before you serve ! This gives a crunchy effect to the chutney which brings extra flavours to it ! Ridge Gourd chutney is thus prepared and ready to serve. This recipe serves 3 - 4 people. This goes well with hot rice. We can also serve this chutney with pulkas, chapathis and rotis.

Tips:

No need to peel off the Ridge Gourds as the peel itself gives a nice effect to the chutney and more over, the peel has good amounts of fiber which is very healthy.

Health info:

Ridge Gourd is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, high in dietary fiber, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Zinc, Thiamin, Iron etc.. This vegetable is beneficiary in losing weight and maintaining good health.