Allam Pachadi

Ah, that quintessential Telugu pachadi, that makes everyone's mouth water. I cannot eat Pesarattu without Allam Pachadi, and I know many others in the family who love it to bits.

 
My mom makes a mean pachadi, and when she was visiting, we made the pachadi together, so I could learn it too.

So here it is... her awesome pachadi.

Ingredients

1. Ginger - 350 gm. Cleaned, de-skinned and dried under a fan and cut in 1cm pieces
2. Red chillis - 10-15 [I used a half and half of regular red chillis and Byadagi ones]
3. Cooking oil - 1/2 C
4. Fenugreek seeds (Methi) - 1/4 C
5. Mustard seeds - 1/4 C
6. Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 Tsp + 1 Tsp
7. Tamarind paste - 1/2 C, if it is thick
8. Jaggery - 1/2 C, powdered
9. Salt - To taste
10. Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
11. Mustard seeds - 1 Tbsp

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pan, and roast the ginger pieces, for about 5-10 min on medium flame.
2. Keep the ginger aside to cool and roast the red chillis in the same oil.
3. Once the chillis are roasted, keep it aside to cool.
4. Dry roast the mustard and fenugreek seeds together, for about 10 min on medium flame or till they give out the roasted smell. Turn off the stove and mix some hing to this.
5. Grind  the ginger pieces, red chillis and the dry roasted seeds separately . Use as little water as possible to do this,
6. If you feel that water is required, add the tamarind paste to ginger , so that it will grind well.
7. Put all the ground ingredients in one bowl and mix them well together. To this , add the Jaggery, turmeric paste, salt and the remaining tamarind paste.
8. You can either mix them all in the bowl with a spoon or grind them all together once again.
9. Heat the pan, with the left over oil in it. Once the oil is heated,  add the mustard seeds to this. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the hing powder to this, and immediately add the ground ginger paste.
10. Mix thoroughly to ensure that the oil gets distributed to the paste completely.

Cool and serve with rice or Pesarattu, a Telugu delicacy made of Green Gram dal or with Idlis.

Note:

• If you add less water, and ensure that the paste is mixed thoroughly with oil at the end, this pickle wild' stay good refrigerated for at least a couple of months
• I recommend that this pickle be refrigerated, to be on a safe side.
• All the measurements mentioned for all the ingredients is highly dependent on how your taste palette is . If required, please check taste of the paste after Step 8 and add the missing ingredient. Just remember that this pickle is supposed to have the taste of ginger and Jaggery dominantly, but should also be hot, thanks to the chillis.
• Even the cooking time mentioned here should be used as an indication. As is common with most Indian cooking, please use your nose to detect if the ingredient is just roasted enough or burnt.
• I have homemade tamarind paste ready in my fridge all the time  which is why I use it for all my preparations. If using fresh tamarind, then boil tamarind with water till it gets thick and use it for this recipe.
• If you don’t have any tamarind paste ready, you can make some by soaking some tamarind in water and boiling it. Grind this in a mixer, and boil some more to ensure that the water is evaporated. This can now be refrigerated for up to 6 months, if you use it carefully and not dip anything with moisture in it. I do it for 1KG tamarind at once.