NARTHANGAI / KOLINGIKAI PACHADI

I am a big fan of this pachadi..I learnt this from my MIL.She makes it very nicely. . Thanks to my MIL for preparing this just for me …Here comes the ingredients with a picture ..

INGREDIENTS :

• NARTHANGAI or KOLINGIKAI – 2 NOS
• Tamarind – Big lemon size
• Salt – 2-3 tbsp
• Jaggery – 1 tbsp
• Water – As needed.

To temper :

• Cooking Oil – 3 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Hing /Asafetida– 1/2 tsp
• Green chilly – 15 – 20 nos
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig

To dry roast & grind :

• Fenugreek seeds – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Asafetida – 1/2 tsp

Method :

• Soak tamarind in warm water for half an hour and extract the juice from it.
• Slice the narthangai or kolingikai into concentric circles and cut into small cubes by removing the seeds.
• Make sure u deseed properly becoz it may induce bitterness.
• In a kadai dry roast the methi seeds till golden brown and Grind it to a fine powder along with turmeric powder & hing.
• In the same kadai add 3 tbsp of oil and temper mustard seeds , urad dal , curry leaves , slit green chilly and 1/2 tsp of hing in the same order.Saute very nicely such that the skin of the green chillies gets shrunken & change into white color .
• In a cooker vessel take the narthangai pieces , tempered items & tamarind extract , salt , powdered items, jaggery & required water(add the water to cover the narthangai completely).
• Pressure cook and remove..( If u feel there is excess water , allow it to boil for sometime..)

Enjoy with curd rice :)

NOTE : We dont get naarthangai all round the year but we easily get kadaarangai and kolingikai .So follow the same procedure and make pachadi with these veggies ..U can see the picture of narthangai below :)