Spicy Nethi Beerakaya Pachadi ( Ridgegourd / Silk Squash Chutney )

Nethi Beerakaya aka Silk squash ( Chinese Okra ) tastes more like Ridge gourd except for the smooth skin and the texture similar to zucchini. Nethi/Neyyi means ghee or clarified butter in telugu, this ridgegourd is called so because of its buttery texture when cooked. The flesh is so smooth and spongy, it took just a few minutes to cook completely. We actually found a small farmers market ( just a couple miles away ) with all the Indian vegetables for which i have been searching for years. Yes i do love this place, the produce was so fresh and the prices very cheap compared to an Indian grocery which was actually very far. I have bought Aribut( introduced by my hubby ), Fresh raw peanuts, baby bananas( amruthapaani ), Sorakaya, Kakarakaya, Bendakaya, Dondakaya, Nethi beerakaya, Beerakaya, Eggplants( green, red, long ) and more... Finally the hunt for good Indian groceries has been over... Thank God..




I brought these cuties( silk squash ) home thinking of making some dal and pachadi. After tasting this Silk Squash chutney i made only this chutney every time i buy them.. yep tasted that good. I am gonna make dal next time . This is a very simple chutney with some tamarind, onions and green chillies and the best part the chutney will be done in no time..
This will be entry for weekend herb blogging event started by Kalyns Kitchen and this week hosted by Anna from Morsels and Musings.


For the chutney you need:

1 Silk squash / Beerakaya
1 small onion
4-6 green chillies
3-4 stalks of coriander
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste


For tempuring or tadka:

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1 tsp aavalu/mustard seeds
1 tsp minapappu/urad dal
few curry leaves
a dash of hing



Method Of Preparation:

Wash and lightly peel the silk squash and chop into 1 inch cubes
Chop onions into 1 inch pieces
Soak tamarind in warm water along with little salt
In a pan heat oil and add onions and green chillies
Saute for 30 sec and toss in silk squash cubes
DO NOT ADD SALT WHILE COOKING( Salt removes a lot of water from the squash )
Switch off the heat once the squash is completely cooked
Once the mixture is cooled, transfer to a blender and grind along with soaked tamarind and some coriander to either a coarse or smooth paste
YOU can adjust the spice by adding the chillies one by one
Mix the salt according to taste
In a small kadai/saute pan add oil followed by urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds
Once they start to pop, add hing and curry leaves
Add this seasoning to the ground chutney and mix well..

Serve this spicy nethi beerakaya pachadi / Silk squash chutney with steamed hot rice( with some home made ghee ) or chapathis. You can use regular beerakaya or ridgegourd instead of Silk squash, both the chutneys taste great!!!


18 comments:

  1. Chutney looks yum! It goes so well with steaming hot rice...

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  2. silk squash! sounds like the elegant member of the squash family :)

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  3. wow, lovely pickle. nice pics.

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  4. How wonderful to find a market with Indian vegetables! I'd love to explore it, although I'm a complete novice at Indian cooking. I didn't know that nethi was another name for ghee, and what is hing? Great entry for WHB, and it sounds delicious to me!

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  5. I bought some squash this week at the market and now I have an idea what to make with it :)

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  6. Yes Seema tasted so good with rice and ghee.

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  7. Anna i was so lucky to find this silk squash which i havent had even when i was in India..

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  8. Thanks Happy cook and Uma,,, Yes it was really Yummy...

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  9. Thanks Kalyn, i consider myself very lucky for finding the indian veggies there... Hing is Asafoetida.. Check out more about Hing here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida

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  10. Yes Cynthia you can replace any squash to make a wonderful chutney...

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  11. never made chutney with ridgegourd ,it looks soo good ,gonna try this soon

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  12. Love the chutney , nice pic

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  13. Wow..this dish looks really delicious..Nice pics!

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  14. Anonymous11:37 PM

    Pachadi looks delicious.Ghee in telugu is neyyi.

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  15. I never tried this chutney with this squash, now I will :)..Thanx for sharing.

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  16. Hi nethi beerekaya pachadi choodatani ki chala bagundi meru ongole nuchi na me mysore pak post choosanu ma ammamma valu ongole lo vuntaru nenu ongole vellina pratisari ee mysore pak techukuntanu dani taste veru kada and nenu vijayawada nuchi hummm mamudi tandra and peddarasalu he he inti ki vellali anipistundi.....

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  17. Hi Rekha,
    Thanks for your reply! Avunandi ma ammamma valla ooru ongole memu nellore. Alluraiah mysore pak, dosas( bayata illallo posi ammutharu ) chala chala bavuntayi.. ma mama ongole nundi vachetappudu ammamma mysore pak, dosakayalu, dosas, inka junnu chesi pampinchedi.. ma manchi amamma..

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