Curry leaves chutney or Karivepaaku pachchadi ~ Andhra Special!

Published: Jan 9, 2008 · Modified: Sep 23, 2020 by Srivalli · 21 Comments

Athamma is known for her expertise in making chutneys. And Dad is very fond of chutneys. Of course, Andhra is known for its chutneys or pachchadi. So there is no denying fact that an Andhrite loves pachachdi. Infact, my aunt who lived in Vijayawada for a decade became more of a Telangana than a Rayalaseema born. We normally don't eat podi annam or pachchadi annam for daily meals, though we are very fond of it. But we do have these in stock for rainy days! But Dad is a passionate lover of the different chutneys that Amma makes. And when he came to know that my Athamma makes these, it became mandatory that we prepare these every week for him. So when Athamma used to visit us, she used to prepare only pachchadis for us. Talk of a vegetable and she will make a chutney out of it. Infact, Dad used to say she is Chutney queen.

When I started this blog, Dad was telling me that I should make Athamma prepare all the chutneys and post it. He is very keen on anything Andhra and its specialties. So when he saw that I wasn't posting anything in that line, he asked me to address this. And when we visited them, the first thing that Amma asked us was, for Athamma to prepare some chutney especially Curry leaves chutney or Karivepaaku pachchadi. Karivepaku pacchadi is very tasty and a sure way to intake the goodness of Curry leaves. Curry leaves or Karivepali as in Tamil is normally used for Tadka or tempering and removed while eating. So Amma makes Karivepaaku podi often for eating with Rice. That's another wonderful podi to eat with hot rice and ghee. That's just amazing. So this pachchadi is something that goes great with Rice.

So Athamma got down preparing it and since we weren't storing it for the next day she added onions. If you want to store, then prepare minus the onions. She normally selects the tender leaves as these are the best candidates for this chutney or pachchadi. All her chutneys, she normally roasts, so she as an iron tawa or skillet just for this. I think infact that gives a unique flavour to the chutney too. Amma used to have the "Rubrayyi" or the flat stone that we used to have in the olden days for grinding chutneys. Pachchadis made from that tastes great! Even now hubby dear asks for chutneys made in that fashion. The ingredients are not very smoothly ground and you can kind of feel all the ingredients as you eat, unlike the smooth paste that we end up, while using a mixie. Since we decided that its going to be curry leaves chutney, I got my camera in action. For once, I was able to get the ingredients before getting ground!

Parents just loved the chutney, moreso because they were eating something authentic andhra after few months! I believe Curry leaves are not abundantly available in there or maybe they haven't found the right place. So just for this chutney they had to search far and wide. But the search brought in smiles to all who had this wonderful Karivepaku pachchadi

Ingredients Needed:

Tender curry leaves - about handful or about a cup
Tamarind - 2" size (If you have paste, then about quarter tsp)
Red chillies - 5 - 6 nos
Garlic - 4 pods
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 small
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Seasoning
Mustard seeds + Urud dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

Method to prepare

Wash curry leaves and let them dry for a while. Soak tamarind in water to extract pulp from it.

Chop onions and peel garlic

In a hot tawa, add 1 tsp oil, and roast all the dry ingredients separately. Let it cool. Meanwhile extract the pulp from tamarind.

Once its cool, all everything half of onions. Run for two rounds until its kind of simi smooth paste. Then add the remaining onions and ensure it doesn't get all ground. Chunks of onions gives a zing to the chutney.

Finally give a tempering of mustard seeds along with whole curry leaves.

Note:
If you want to store this, don't use onion.
Adjust the tamarind according to your taste. We don't normally eat too sour.
And the consistency of the chutney should not be a smooth paste.

Serve this with hot rice and ghee, you won't want anything else after that!

Curry leaves are known for its excellent curative properties, taking this in some form or the other is very important. It is said to prevent hair loss and helps in new hair follicle growth and also in controlling diabetics. So having it as a chutney gives lot of curry dose!

Recipe

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