Pachadi

Pachadi is a salad made from fresh fruits and vegetables. On the Maharashtrian thali it is placed just south of the wedge of lemon. It is usually an alternative to koshimbir (another type of salad) but for very special occasions can be made in addition to koshimbir. If you are interested in Koshimbir you will find the post here.

Pachadi can be made with a lot of different vegetables. Most vegetables that can be consumed raw are candidates. Today I made a sampler with 7 different vegetables and one fruit. I used, carrots, cucumber, tomato, turnip, radish, cauliflower and the fruit guava. You have to ensure the produce is fresh and of good quality as it is eaten raw.

Pachadi is flavored with with a variety of mix-ins. Some that I used are shredded coconut, ground roasted peanuts. finely diced cilantro, de-seeded Serrano pepper crushed in salt, soaked and ground chana dal (bengal gram) and soaked and roasted urad dal (black gram). In addition salt, sugar, lemon juice or amchur powder and red chilli pepper powder is used. Lastly, the pachadi is tempered with oil, cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder.

I made all the recipes on this sampler on the same day and we ate it with some poli. However, in a typical thali you would make just one of these recipes, one that goes well with the rest of your chosen menu.

You will need (for 4 servings)
For Vegetable Pachadi
Main ingredients
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
or 2 medium tomatoes, remove seeds and dice
or 3 large florets of cauliflower, shredded
or 1 cucumber, peeled and shredded
or 1 3 inch piece white radish, shredded
or 1 small turnip, peeled and shredded

Mix-in ingredients
1 tbsp. shredded fresh coconut (you can use frozen)
2 tbsp. ground roasted peanuts
1 sprig cilantro, finely diced
1/4 serrano pepper, remove seeds and dice
2 tbsp. channa dal (bengal gram) (if using radish)
1 tbsp. ural dal (black gram) (if using cucumber)

Flavoring ingredients
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. lemon juice or 1/2 tsp. amchur powder
salt to taste

For the tempering
1 tbsp. oil (I use olive oil)
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. asafoetida
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder

For fruit pachadi
2 small or 1 large guava, shred on a fine shredder and discard the seeds

1 sprig cilantro, finely diced
1/4 serrano pepper, remove seeds and dice
1/2 tsp, black pepper powder
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. lemon juice or 1/2 tsp. amchur powder
salt to taste

Soak the channa dal (bengal gram) for half an hour if using and grind coarsely. Keep aside. Soak urad dal for half an hour and drain and roast lightly on a pan until crispy. Keep aside and let it cool. In a separate pan heat the oil for tempering. When hot turn off heat and add the other ingredients. Let it cool.

Prepare the vegetables or fruit.