Ridge Gourd Chutney or Beerakaya Pachadi

Hey guys! It’s time for another chutney recipe! As I already mentioned, my penchant for chutneys leads me to experiment myriad varieties….so you are definitely going to find them abundant on my blog. Today I’m going to share with you Ridge Gourd Chutney or Beerakaya Pachadi. Have you ever imagined to include the peel of a vegetable to make a chutney. Don’t you think it’s such a great way of saving and using peels of vegetables as they are packed with nutrition? This chutney uses whole ridge gourd including the peel.

Ridge gourd is highly recommended by health experts and doctors for its medicinal properties. It contains abundant dietary fibre, vitamin C, zinc, thiamine, iron, riboflavin, magnesium and manganese. Ridge-gourd is good for the stomach and reduces constipation, purifies blood, aids weight loss due to its low saturated fat content, beneficial for diabetics due to the existence of insulin, possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic properties, strengthens immune system and excellent for skin care.

Did you know that it is utilised in making Loofah sponge which is used as a body scrub? Are these benefits enough to convince you to try this vegetable?…I mean the people who don’t like the vegetable.

Ridge-gourd is abundantly used in Indian cooking for making different chutneys, curries, dal or sambar and many more. We mostly peel off the skin and use only the inner parts of the vegetables while cooking. In the case of ridge gourd especially, most of the nutrients are present in its skin. Once you taste this awesome chutney I bet you will never throw away the skin again.

Ridge gourd chutney or beerakaya pachadi is not only a great accompaniment to idli and dosa but best eaten by mixing with steamed rice and with a dollop of ghee on top and a pappad on the side, especially on those days when you don’t feel like cooking/eating anything elaborate. ….slurrrppp !! So go ahead and give this luscious green chutney a shot. I am sure you’ll love it!

Let’s learn how to select and buy a tender Ridge Gourd:

Click HERE to directly go to the video!! But, I advice you to go through detailed recipe for a few tips !!

First thing to keep in mind is to buy a tender Ridge gourd. Try to twist the ridge gourd softly while buying. When it is soft and pale green, it means the veggie is still tender. The other indication would be those dark stripes on the ridges. If the stripe is too thick, it means it is not tender enough to buy.You would have also surely experienced the bitterness of this veggie. Some times the ridge gourd tends to be bitter though you choose them carefully from vegetable store. What you would do then?? Do you throw them straight in to dustbin??? Hold on!!

The outer skin of the ridge gourd would definitely be useful, it will not be bitter. Peel the ridges or skin from the ridge gourd and you can make this mild spicy, tasty ridge gourd peel chutney, which I will be sharing later. Tender ridge gourds look something like this-

Step-by-Step process in making Ridge Gourd Chutney or Beerakaya Pachadi:

• Wash the Ridge gourd well. Run your fingers through the ridges and scrub while washing.
• Just peel off the thick stripes on the ridges and discard. You can use the rest of the peel.

• Cut the ridge gourd into small cubes.
• Peel garlic pods and beak each green chilli into 2 pieces.
• Note: Always break or slit green chillies while frying in oil as they pop up and burst. The seeds come directly onto our face.

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and shallow fry all the ingredients one after the other.
• Firstly fry green chilies for a minute and remove to a plate.
• Now add garlic pods and remove.
• Then add ridge gourd pieces and sauté for 3 to 5 min until slightly soft. They shouldn’t become too soft. Remove and transfer to a plate.
• Turn off the heat and add minced coriander . Stir with the remaining heat in the pan and remove.

• Let the shallow fried ingredients cools down.
• First grind all the above fried ingredients except ridge gourd pieces along with tamarind, a raw garlic pod, cumin seeds and required salt in an electric blender to a smooth paste.

• Now add the ridge gourd pieces and grind to a coarse or smooth paste to suit your requirement. I always like my chutney coarsely ground.

• For the tempering, heat oil in a small pan over medium heat and add black gram (urad dal) and bengal gram (channa dal).
• When the lentils start to turn light brown add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chilies.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter, add asafoetida and turn off the heat. Finally add curry leaves.
• Transfer the tempering to the Ridge gourd chutney or Beerakaya pachadi.

• Ridge gourd chutney or beerakaya pachadi is a great accompaniment to idli, dosa, paniyaram, medu vada, roti or paratha but best eaten by mixing with steamed rice and with a dollop of ghee on top. A pappad on the side to this rice is mind blowing!!

Watch Ridge Gourd Chutney Andhra Style below:

Print Recipe

Ridge Gourd Chutney or Beerakaya Pachadi

Ridge gourd chutney or Beerakai pachadi is a lush green delicious chutney prepared with ridge gourd, green chillies, garlic, tamarind and other spices. It is a good condiment to idli and dosa and also tastes heavenly with rice and a dollop of ghee.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Author: Padma

Ingredients

• To Shallow Fry:
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 Ridge gourds wash & peel thick stripes on the ridges and cut into cubes
• 10 to 12 green chillies broken into 2 pieces
• 2 garlic pods peeled
• ½ cup coriander chopped
• To grind along with:
• Cranberry size Tamarind
• 1 garlic pod
• 1 teaspoons cumin seeds
• Required salt
• For the Tempering:
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon Black gram urad dal
• 1 teaspoon Bengal gram channa dal
• 2 dry red chillies
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• A pinch of asafoetida
• A sprig of curry leaves

Instructions

• To shallow fry:
• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and shallow fry all the ingredients under the section "To shallow fry" one after the other.
• First fry green chilies for a minute and remove.
• Now add garlic pods, fry till light brown and remove.
• Add ridge gourd pieces and sauté till slightly soft for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Turn off the heat and add minced coriander and stir in the remaining heat of the pan.
• Let the fried mixture cool down.
• To Grind:
• First grind all the shallow fried ingredients except ridge gourd pieces along with ingredients under the section "To grind" in an electric blender to a smooth paste.
• To this add ridge gourd pieces and grind to a coarse paste. and transfer to a bowl.
• For the tempering:
• For the tempering:: Use ingredients under the section "For the tempering".
• Heat oil in a small pan over medium heat and add black gram (urad dal) and bengal gram (channa dal).
• When the lentils start to turn light brown add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and red chilies.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter and add asafoetida, turn off the heat and finally add curry leaves.
• Transfer the tempering to the Ridge gourd chutney.
• Serve Ridge gourd chutney or Beerakaya pachadi with idli, dosa, paniyaram, medu vada, roti, paratha or just with hot rice and a dollop of ghee and a pappad on the side.

Notes

The chutney can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for about a week.
Before using ridge gourd, check the taste of it by eating a small raw piece as sometimes the ridge gourd can be bitter. if it is bitter, you can use just the peel for the chutney.
Adjust your spice level accordingly with green chillies to suit your taste..
Green chillies can also be replaced with red chillies.
Ensure that the ridge gourd is properly washed before peeling. Run your fingers through the ridges and scrub while washing.

You might want to check out other popular posts on various chutneys on my blog- Zucchini Tomato chutney, Onion chutney, Coriander Mint chutney, Peanut chutney, sweet and sour tomato chutney, carrot chutney, snake gourd yoghurt chutney and many many more to come!!…..Stay Tuned!!

Happy Cooking 🙂

Padma