Orange Pachchadi ~ Fruit Peel Recipe by Surya Natarajan

A family favourite, Mrs Surya learnt this delicious pachchadi (chutney) made out of orange peel from her mother-in-law. She says that a good cook uses her creativity to make dishes out of peels & even seeds. Of course, the taste of this chutney is rich enough to make us procure oranges primarily for their peel – A lovely FRUIT peel recipe!

Ingredients:

Peel of 2 large ripe oranges – chopped fine
Ginger – 1 tbsp when chopped fine

To tweak this into a Jain recipe, avoid the ginger.

Green chillies – 5, deseeded
Tamarind – small orange-sized piece
Jaggery – lemon-sized piece, grated
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Salt to taste

The powder:

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Peppercorns – 1 tsp
Red chillies – 2-3, deseeded

The Tempering:

Sesame oil – 2 tbsps
Bengal gram (chana dal) – 1 tbps
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder – a pinch
Curry leaves – a few

Method:

1. To prepare the powder, dry roast the sesame seeds. Add the remaining ingredients of the powder & continue to roast for a couple of minutes. Cool & grind into a fine powder. Set aside.
2. Soak the tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes & extract the pulp.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add the bengal gram. As it starts turning golden, add the remaining ingredients of the tempering.
4. Add the chopped orange peels, ginger and chillies.
5. Saute for 2 minutes, add salt, turmeric, tamarind pulp, 2 cups water and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add jaggery and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Add the ground powder, mix well & take off flame.

Tastes excellent with hot dosas, as a side-dish in a meal or mixed into steaming hot rice. Serves 6-8 persons and can stay fresh for upto a week in the refrigerator.

Mrs Surya says: You can use the powder in this recipe to make other vegetable pachchadis of your choice too. For instance, substitute orange peel with large onions, or with capscium or use a combination of onions, capsicum and orange peel. This pachchadi tastes the same with greenish peel of oranges as well.