Watermelon Curd Pachadi

Curd pachadi made with watermelon rind. Pachadi is an important side in southindian veg thali. You can make varieties of pachadi, but the standard ones you see in restaurants or wedding ceremonies are the cucumber pachadi and beetroot pachadi. I love veggies a lott, especially the veg thali, n pachadi is my fav too. 

The watermelon rind(white portion) is the one which we usually throw away, occassionally I make recipes with it. It tastes exactly like cucumber, so I thought to make pachadi with it, after extracting the juice for us. Very yummy n  as I expected, it tasted same like cucumber pachadi. A must try one frnz..

RECIPE:

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Preparation Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins

Serves: 4

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INGREDIENTS: [1 cup=240 ml]

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Watermelon rind(white portion) - 2 1/3 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Salt - as req.

Water - as req.

To Grind:

Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp

Shallots - 2

Green chilli - 1

Ginger - a small piece

To Temper:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Oil - as req. 

METHOD:

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1. In a vessel, add the fine chopped watermelon rind, generous amount of water till the watermelon is immersed, little salt, and close with a lid. Cook in high flame sauteing in between occasionally. 

2. Meanwhile, grind the 'to grind' ingredients to a very fine paste. Set this aside.

3. When almost all the water is reduced, the watermelon is cooked very well, and becomes very pale in color, add the ground paste, adjust salt, stir well and cook for a few mins. When the ground paste is very well merged with the watermelon, switch off the stove and remove the vessel from stove. 

4. Now add the curd immediately, and mix very well. If your curd is watery, you can strain to remove the whey, and use the thick curd. 

5. Finally, in a pan, temper with the 'to temper' ingredients. Pour this over the cooked mix, and mix well. DONE!! 

 Your yummy watermelon curd pachadi is ready to be served!!

NOTE:

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1. You have to add more salt than we usually add for other dishes, because the watermelon and curd both have sourness. After switching off the stove, they begin to absorb the salt as time goes on. So, your salt should match them.

2.  You can even fine chop watermelon than shown. But this is good enough.

3. If you touch the watermelon pieces, it should mash well. Thats the correct consistency for any pachadi.