Potlakaya Kothimeera Pachadi | Andhra Style Snakegourd Chutney

Potlakaya Pachadi is a gluten Free, vegan chutney made with Snakegourd and basic kitchen spices. A delicacy of Andhra Cuisine.

Potlakaya = snakegourd ; kothimeera = coriander / cilantro ; pachadi = thick chutney in andhra cuisine. This is a delicious gluten free , vegan chutney served with hot rice or even with idli / dosa. This kind of thick chutney is sometimes also called Roti Pachadi

Potlakaya / parwal / snakegourd / paduvalakai (depening on what you call it) is a water rich vegetable which lends itself to stir fries , raita, kootu across various South Indian cusines . Some North Indian dishes feature a bharwa parwal (stuffed snakegourd) . Another cousin of parwal is this pointed gourd which is used to make this delicious paneer stuffed sweet like Sujata’s recipe of Stuffed Sweet Parwal.

Today we shall see a simple yet Uber delish andhra style Pachadi (thick chutney) that is relished with both steamed rice+ ghee and also with idli / dosa. Addition of coconut is entirely optional and some recipes also add onion and garlic which I have not used. 

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Similar chutneys with vegetable base that we love at home

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Tips to make a delicious potlakaya pachadi 

1. Use tender snakegourd only for best results 
2. Let the sautéed ingredients cool completely, add 1-2 tablespoon of water only as the veggie is water rich and that’s sufficient for grinding
3. Pachadis are always 80% smooth, leaving it a little coarse enhances the taste 
4. Addition of coconut, onion or garlic are entirely optional, I used very little coconut and skipped the latter. 
5. Tamarind paste can be used in place of whole tamarind 
6. One can use only green or red chillies or even kashmiri chillies. I used a mix of less spicy green chillies and red chillies and that worked out perfectly for us 

If you are like us and love this vegetable, check out more recipes using snakegourd here

What you need to make potlakaya pachadi 

• 1 medium sized snakegourd (about 80 grams) 
• 1 tablespoon oil 
• 2 tablespoon Bengal gram (channa dal)
• ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• ½ teaspoon cumin (jeera)
• 3 green chilies 
• 2 red chilies 
• 5 gram tamarind (sub with 1 teaspoon tamarind paste)
• ¼ cup coriander 
• 2 teaspoon coconut (totally optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt 

Tempering 

• 1 teaspoon oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 sprig curry leaves 
• ½ teaspoon split black gram (urad dal)
• 1 red chilly (broken)

How to make potlakaya kothimeera pachadi

1. Scrape the skin of snakegourd with a sharp knife, halve it and deseed it 
2. Wash it well and dice it fine 
3. heat oil, roast the dal, cumin and methi seeds
4. then add the chillies and saute for 2 minutes
5. Then add the chopped veggie (snakegourd) and saute for 3 mins
6. Add tamarind, salt and chopped coriander and saute
7. Cover and cook for 4-5 mins till it turns soft
8. If using coconut, add and saute for 1 more min.
9. Cool and grind without no additional water.
10. Prepare tadka / tempering with the ingredients under tempering. Pour onto chutney.
11. Serve pachadi with hot steamed rice or any South Indian Breakfast like Dosa

If you want to see a quick video of this, click my below

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