Spicy Chilly Yoghurt ~pachchamulagum thairumchértha pachadi~

The funny thing about achachan's cookbook is its language. My grasp of malayalam is not something I am terribly proud of, though I speak fairly fluently for a non resident keralite born and brought up entirely in the north of the Vindhyas. I can barely write malayalam but oh yes I can read the language haltingly. Thankgod for that!

A recipe in the old cookbook is sometimes just one long sentence, some words have no spaces and they just go on and on. Anyone who's heard south indians speak will know what I am talking about, and therein lies my problem. Let's say I am in the middle of a sentence and my daughter comes and whacks the book from my hand (she does that pretty often) I not only lose the page I am reading I have no clue where to look - since the pages are numbered in malayalam numerals! Or lets say hubby feels suddenly romantic at his myopic wife rabidly reading the one para for the last 30 minutes, out flies the book, and I say to myself I'll wake up early next morning or there's always the afternoon and so on.

So its no wonder my picks from the book are the really simple recipes, and yes, I have started bookmarking the pages!

I discovered recipe No.2 from my grandfather's times is a super spicy raita/pachadi . Pachchamulagum Thairumchértha Pachadi. I mean who can go wrong with yoghurt! This raita/pachadi is so good I couldn't stop eating it - spicey be damned!

yoghurt with chillies & seasoning

Ingredients (enough for 2 people):
Green Chillies - 8
Thick Yoghurt - 1 cup
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp (lightly crushed)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 generous pinch
Ghee/Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1 pinch

Method:
1. Beat the yoghurt with salt and keep aside.
2. Half or quarter the chilles lengthwise.
3. Heat oil in a wok and splutter the mustard, and then add the rest of the seasoning one
after the other - cumin, fenugreek, coriander - take care not to burn them.
4. Add some asafoetida and mix.
5. Now drop in the chillies and fry for a bit.
6. Remove and pour over the beaten curd, sprinkle some turmeric and mix well.

Let the pachadi sit for some time - so that the yoghurt assimilates the flavours. The highlight of this raita is the bite of coriander seeds - I've never tasted coriander in combination with yoghurt so was blown away by it. My verdict is that it can definitely jazz up a simple meal - I am definitely going to make this pachadi again & again & again.