The most amazing chutneys and pickles come from Andhra and it’s no surprise since the most spicy mirchi (dried red chilli) comes from Guntur. Guntur is where my dad was brought up. He lived there for his entire childhood and his teenage years, before moving to Hyderabad in his early 20’s. Though he’s lived in Hyderabad for most of his adult life, he refuses to admit it as his home. Home is always Guntur to him. I love the food that originates from there, be it the mirchi bajji (Green chilli fritters) or the Gongura pachadi. Our meal is incomplete without a rotti pachadi. Rotti pachadi is a chutney that is prepared fresh using a mortar and pestle. These days of course it’s hard to cook in mortar and pestle, so we use the food processor, but for most of our childhood my mom prepared in a mortar, and we loved to help. We eat spicy food all the time and pickles and chutneys are a part of our every day life. One of my favorites that my mom makes is the Allam Pachadi. She usually makes it as a side for idli, dosa, vada or upma, but I can eat it up with almost anything. I love it with rice too. Whenever I’m visiting mom, she makes sure there is a huge batch in the fridge because I love it so much.

My mom is very patient. She loves cooking and feeding people as much as I do. I think that’s the reason her food is so tasty, because of all the love she gives to the food. When I asked her if I can take pictures while she makes, she got so excited that she delayed cooking for me. She thinks I’m not honest when it comes to tasting her food and she thinks something is inadequate, but she cooks the best (as does everyone else’s mom). This chutney stays fresh for about a month in the fridge, make sure the salt isn’t less or it will go bad fast. This is just one of the recipes I’m uploading now, because I have a ton more, and so less time. I have recipes for Dosaavakaya, Kandi Vepudu and Maramarala Uggani, but no time to write and upload. I have asked mom to make more, and she is willing to make more. I asked the recipe for her famous Mukkala Pachadi which is mango pieces in spices. But the availability of mangoes is still scarce so she couldn’t make it. So here’s the recipe for Allam Pachadi or Ginger Chutney.

 

Ingredients 

Ginger – 1/3 cup (chopped into small pieces)

Jaggery – 1/4 cup (chopped into small pieces)

Tamarind – 1 cup (soaked and de-seeded)

Sugar – 3 tablespoons

Dried Red Chilies – 10 (Mom used more)

Urad Dal – 1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 teaspoon

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tablespoon

Cumin seeds – 1 tablespoon

Asafoetida – 1/4 teaspoon

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Water – As required

Salt – As needed

How to Make

Step 1: In a pan once heated, add oil. Once hot, add the urad dal and fenugreek seeds. Next add the mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the asafoetida, cumin seeds and the dried red chilies.

Step 2: Take the above into the food processor jar (or a plate to cool it down a bit). In the jar add the ginger, jaggery and the soaked tamarind.

Step 3: Blend it. Add water accordingly. Add some sugar, adjust jaggery (if required) and salt and blend it again.

Step 4: Serve it with idli/dosa/pesarattu/rice/upma or even chapati.

 

Tips:

1. Increasing ginger will lead to bitterness, so keep the ginger as minimum as possible.
2. You can increase the jaggery if you prefer more sweet or tamarind if you like it tangy.
3. We used more dried red chilies because we eat it very spicy, but you can increase or decrease accordingly.
4. It stays fresh for about a month in the fridge, but it doesn’t last that long at our house.

Po