Friday, February 1, 2008

Ridge Gourd Skin Chutney (Peerkangai Tholu Chutney)

Some of you might be a bit confused at reading the title of this post. Yes, I made chutney with the skins of ridge gourds (peerkangai). Yes, I ate it and it was fabulous! I'd heard about this previously from my mother, who used to make this occasionally. I'd bought the ridge gourd for another use when it occurred to me that I could make chutney with the peels. I love when I do something right!


Here's the yummy (yet simple!) recipe:

Ingredients:

Peels of 2 medium ridge gourds (peerkangai) - about 1 cup of peels
Red chillies - 4, or to taste
Urad dal - 1 tsp (to give the chutney some thickness and body)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut - 2 tbsp
Tamarind - small gooseberry size
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
Oil
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Urad dal - 1 tsp (optional, for flavor)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add urad dal, curry leaves, red chillies. Fry until the dal browns and the chillies darken in color.

2. Then, add the ridge gourd peels and coconut and fry until the peels soften.

3. Cool this mixture and grind in a blender or mixer with tamarind and salt.

4. Do the seasoning and mix into the ground chutney. Serve with idli, dosa, uthappam, etc. Enjoy!

ridge gourd peel chutney

I guess you could say this is a delicious way of "going green." I mean, you are recycling in a way, right? :)

8 comments:

FH said...

Yummy indeed! Best chutney to have with Akki rotti!:)
Enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Looks good Kalai! We make ridge gourd peel chutney at home but my recipe is slightly different! Will have to gives u're recipe a try sometime!

Kalai said...

Hi Ashakka! Haven't tried with Akki roti, but you just reminded me of an aunty that we used to rag to no end because she was seemingly obsessed with akki rotis! Thanks for making me laugh. Have a great weekend! You watching the superbowl? Go Giants!

Latha, it's great to see you here! Will check your blog to see if you have your recipe. Would love to try your version, too! Have a great weekend. :)

Dhivya said...

Great entry..looks yummy..Thanks for sharing

Kalai said...

My pleasure, Dhivya! :)

Sagari said...

havent tried this chutneyyy ,looks yummyy kalai

Lavanya Raj said...

kalai..it is a perfect recycling. i love peerkangai. will try this and let you know. vazhthukkaludan lavanya.

Kalai said...

Sagari: Yeah, it sounds a bit unusual, but it's really yummy and a great use for the skins!

Lavanya: I love peerkangai, too! Pls do try and let me know! :)