Vendakkai Pachadi

Vendakkai Pachadi – A yogurt based southindian side dish made with okra, yogurt, coconut and seasoning. It’s a traditional pachadi that is often served in Onam Sadhya.

Here’s how to make this delicious vendakka pachadi step by step.

VENDAKKAI PACHADI RECIPE

Hailing from a South Indian family, Thayir Pachadi { Southindian raita } is often served along with Molagootal { mixed vegetable curry } or Keerai Molagootal.

Thayir Pachadi is an essential element in the Southindian wedding platter as well as Onam Sadhya.

This is just like how raita is served with curries in NorthIndia.

Yogurt condiment is absolutely essential to add a cooling element to the meal. This southindian lady’s finger raita does exactly the same.  This recipe for pachadi is traditional but pretty straight forward and delicious.

To make this Thayir Pachadi, first blend the coconut, cumin seeds and green chilli to a fine paste.

Add the coconut mixture to yogurt, salt and stir to combine.

Okra is then sautéed in oil until crispy and set aside to cool. Add this sauteed okra to the yogurt mixture.

Prepare a tempering with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the thayir pachadi and serve along with molagootal or in your onam sadhya.

If you love Okra, try this

Bhindi masala sabzi

Bhindi Kadhi

WHAT IS A SOUTHINDIAN PACHADI?

Southindian Pachadi is a yogurt based condiment made with yogurt, coconut and tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies. Tempering can vary slightly depending upon the variety of pachadi you are making.

Some of the popular Pachadi’s are Pineapple Pachadi, Tomato Pachadi and Beetroot Pachadi.

Stay tuned as I will be sharing these recipes shortly in this space.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RAITA AND PACHADI?

The primary difference between pachadi and raita is that pachadi is a southindian yogurt based dish where as raita is a northi ndian yogurt based dish.

Pachadi and Raita vary from each other with respect to spices, seasoning and this can create totally different flavors.

Pachadi has yogurt and coconut and is seasoned with mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and sometimes chillies.

Raita is made with raw or cooked vegetables and yogurt. It is seasoned with  cumin powder, chaat masala, herbs and chillies.

Depending upon what we are cooking, I end up making a raita or a pachadi accordingly.

As I made Keerai Molagootal for lunch today, I wanted to serve them with Vendakkai Pachadi and Pulikachal.

INGREDIENTS FOR VENDAKKA PACHADI

All the ingredients needed to make this Okra Pachadi are simple ingredients available in most south indian home. There are no whole spices, no garam masala, no complicated ingredients.

Okra – Call it Okra, Vendakkai or Bhindi or Lady’s finger, this vegetable is known by many names.
Yogurt – also known as Thayir is indispensable for this recipe
Coconut
Green chilli lends the heat to this pachadi. Add more green chillies if you like a little more heat in this dish.
Cumin Seeds 
Tempering  I like to temper my pachadi with Mustard seeds, Urad dal, Asafoetida  and Curry leaves

Once you gather all the ingredients, its really easy to make this delicious pachadi.

HOW TO MAKE VENDAKKAI PACHADI STEP BY STEP

Wash the okra and dry them well on a towel.

Cut the okra into thin discs.

Gather the ingredients – grated coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies to make coconut paste.

Blend – Add  coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies to a blender jar and blend to a fine paste. Add a little yogurt or water as needed to blend them smooth.

Saute – Heat oil in a pan, add Okra, salt and saute until crispy. Set it aside to cool down.

Mix – To a small bowl, add yogurt, coconut mixture and stir.

Tempering – Prepare the tempering. Heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, hing. Once mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves. Turn off the flame.

Combine and Serve – Add the sautéed okra and the tempering. Stir and serve. Store any remaining pachadi in the fridge.

HAVE YOU MADE THIS EASY OKRA THAYIR PACHADI?

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VENDAKKAI PACHADI RECIPE

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Author: Sandhya Hariharan

Vendakka Pachadi is a southindian yogurt based dish made with okra, yogurt, coconut and seasoning ingredients. Serve them on your Onam Sadhya.

Ingredients

• 12 -15 Okra
• 2 Cup Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Coconut grated
• 2 Green chilli Add more for extra heat
• 2 - 4 tbsp yogurt or water
• Salt – As needed
• 1 tsp Oil

Tempering

• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard
• 1 tsp Urad dal
• 1 generous pinch Asafoetida
• 10 -12 Curry leaves

Instructions

• Wash the okra and dry them well on a towel.  Cut them into thin discs.
• Add  coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies to a blender jar and blend to a fine paste. Add a little yogurt or water as needed to blend them smooth.
• Heat oil in a pan, add Okra, salt and saute until crispy. Set it aside to cool down.
• To a small bowl, add yogurt, coconut mixture and stir.  Add a little water to adjust the consistency of the pachadi.
• Prepare the tempering. Heat 1 tsp oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, hing. Once mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves. Turn off the flame.
• Add the sautéed okra and the tempering. Stir and serve.

Notes

Adjust the proportion of okra and yogurt as per your liking.
Never add hot sautéed okra to the pachadi. This can cause the dish to split.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, Kerala, SouthIndian

Keyword: pachadi, raita

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