beerakaya pachadi - ridge gourd chutney

Beerakaya Pachadi Recipe (Ridge Gourd Chutney)

By Swasthi on August 21, 2023, Comments, Jump to Recipe

Beerakaya Pachadi is Andhra style ridge gourd chutney. Andhra Cuisine is very popular for the spicy, hot and delicious chutney varieties made with vegetables. In fact our traditional Andhra meals is incomplete without a fresh hot and spicy chutney. This Beerakaya Pachadi is a delicious chutney made with ridge gourd, spices, herbs and some times roasted lentils are also added for a nutty flavor.

beerakaya pachadi - ridge gourd chutney

Every home has a different recipe to make this pachadi. Here I am sharing 2 easy recipes which I make often for our meals.

The first recipe uses dried red chilies, chana dal and urad dal. The second recipe uses green chilies and sesame seeds. You can use green chilies for dried red chilies in the first recipe and vice-versa. Both taste and look different.

Beerakaya Pachadi is best eaten mixed with hot rice and ghee. But it also goes well with Idli, Dosa, Paratha and even with chapati/ rotis.

Traditionally, ridge gourd chutney is made using a manual stone mortar pestle which actually gives a wonderful slight coarse texture. It is also believed that the pachadi made in a stone mortar pestle tastes much superior than the chutney made in electric grinders/blenders.

Even in the modern days a lot of people use these manual equipment because they love the pachadi made using that. I use a mixer/grinder to make the chutney. But if you want to attain the coarse texture like in the traditional chutney, use a food processor.

This chutney tastes best when made with fresh and young ridge gourd since they have lesser hard fibers. Here are some tips:

Pro Tips

  • You may leave out this step if using homegrown gourds (without pesticides). Spray some vinegar all over the ridge gourd and sprinkle/apply salt or baking soda. Leave them for 5 to 7 minutes and scrub them well with a vegetable brush. Rinse under running water very well.
  • Peel the ridges using a peeler, cut off both the ends and rinse the gourd well.
  • Some ridge gourds can taste bitter, I prefer to taste test the raw ridge gourd before chopping.
  • I prefer to use chana dal, urad dal and/or sesame seeds since they not only add flavor to the pachadi but also add some texture and absorb some of the liquids from the gourd. This results in a thicker and nutty chutney.
  • If you want you can also leave the lentils in the same pan and continue to cook the gourd, this way they will soften and blend easily while grinding. But I prefer to powder them first for a unique nutty flavor.
  • If you want to use tamarind, soak a small piece of tamarind in hot water and squeeze it well and use only a little.

More beerakaya recipes
Beerakaya Curry
Beerakaya Fry
Beerakaya Pappu

How to Make Ridge Gourd Chutney (Stepwise Photos – Recipe 1)

1. Dry roast 3 to 4 dried red chilies, 1 tablespoon chana dal and ½ tablespoon urad dal on a medium heat until golden. Add ½ teaspoon cumin to the hot pan. Toss until the cumin smells good. Transfer these to a plate to cool. If you want you may leave them in the pan and continue to saute the veggies in the next step.

roasting chana urad dal to make ridge gourd chutney

2. To the same pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and add 3 cups chopped ridge gourd. Fry them for 3 to 4 minutes on a medium flame. Cover and cook on a low to medium flame until they are cooked and tender. When done the skin is still firm and only the flesh softens but the gourd looses its raw flavor. Set aside to cool, separately from the roasted lentils.

frying veggies

3. Pour half teaspoon oil and add a garlic clove. Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes, a pinch of turmeric and 1/3 teaspoon salt. Cook until mushy.

frying tomatoes

4. Powder the dal, cumin and red chili first in a jar. If you want you may set aside one red chili aside, blend, taste test and add the other if required.

powdering dals to make ridge gourd chutney

5. Slightly coarse is also ok.

Slightly coarse

6. Add gourd, tomatoes and garlic. Pulse to a coarse or smooth chutney to suit your liking. If you want you may add very little tamarind paste. Be careful not to add a lot.

blending ingredients to make ridge gourd chutney

7. Make the tempering in hot oil by adding red chili, cumin, garlic, mustard and dal. When they turn golden, add curry leaves and hing.

making tadka with curry leaves for ridge gourd chutney

Pour this to the ridge gourd chutney.

beerakaya pachadi - ridge gourd chutney recipe

Recipe 2 – Andhra Beerakaya Pachadi

This recipe yields chutney that has a mild nutty taste that comes from the sesame seeds. They don’t give a bitter taste but if you don’t like to use them replace with chana dal and urad dal like I did in the first method. The taste would be different though due to the green chilies used.

If you want you may also use tamarind paste while blending and leave out tomatoes. But the tang from tamarind is different from the tang from tomatoes.

beerakaya pachadi recipe

1. Heat a pan, dry roast sesame seeds on a medium flame till you get a nice aroma. do not burn. once they cool down make a fine powder of the seeds and set aside.

toast sesame seeds

2. Add oil to the same pan, fry green chili for 2 to 3 mins or till they wilt off. Set aside to cool. To the same pan, add ridge gourd and fry till they are soft cooked. Set aside to cool.

cook ridge gourd

3. Add little more oil to the same pan, add tomatoes, sprinkle salt and turmeric. Saute till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add tomatoes, ridge gourd, cumin and green chilies to the ground sesame seeds powder and grind to smooth or coarse pachadi to suit your taste.

4. Temper with tempering ingredients. Add the prepared pachadi and mix well.

temper the chutney

Related Recipes

Recipe Card

beerakaya pachadi recipe

Beerakaya Pachadi Recipe (Ridge Gourd Chutney)

Beerakaya pachadi is Andhra style ridge gourd chutney. It is best served with hot steamed rice and ghee. It also goes well with dosa, plain parathas and chapati.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings4 to 5
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 3 cups ridge gourd chopped , scrape off the veins and do not remove the skin
  • 3 to 4 dried red chilies slit (adjust) or green chilies slit
  • ½ cup tomato chopped, ripe and red
  • 1 tablespoon chana dal (or white sesame seeds or peanuts)
  • ½ tablespoon urad dal (or white sesame seeds or peanuts)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 medium garlic clove crushed
  • 1 pinch turmeric
  • tablespoon oil to saute (divided)
  • ⅓ to ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon tamarind paste (not concentrate, optional)

To Temper

  • ½ to 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1 pinch mustard seeds
  • 1 pinch cumin seeds
  • 1 pinch hing
  • ¼ teaspoon channa dal
  • ¼ tsp urad dal
  • 1 small garlic clove crushed
  • 1 dried red chili broken


Instructions

Prepare Ridge Gourd

  • Optional – Spray vinegar all over the ridge gourd and sprinkle some salt or baking soda. Let rest for 5 to 7 mins and then scrub them with a vegetable brush.
  • Rinse under running water and peel the ridges. Cut off both the ends. Cube them to 1 inch pieces.

How to Make Beerakaya Pachadi

  • Dry roast chana dal, urad dal and dried red chilies on a medium flame till you get a nice aroma. Add the cumin seeds and toast for a minute. Transfer this to a plate to cool.
  • Heat a wide pan with half of the oil. If you want to use green chili as a substitute to red chili, fry them in oil until blistered.
  • Add ridge gourd and saute till they are almost cooked. You can fry on high for the first 3 mins and reduce the flame. Cook covered until they soften. Transfer these to a plate to cool.
  • Add a teaspoon of oil to the same pan and add garlic, tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Saute till the tomatoes turn mushy and lose the raw flavor.
  • Transfer the roasted lentils, red chilies and cumin to the grinder and powder the, Add the rest of the ingredients – gourd, tomatoes and chilies. If you want you can also add little tamarind paste.
  • Grind to a coarse or smooth pachadi to your liking. Taste test and adjust salt.

Temper

  • Add oil to the pan for tempering and heat. Add all the ingredients except curry leaves and hing. Fry till golden.
  • Add curry leaves and fry till crisp. Add hing. Pour this tempering over the beerakaya pachadi.


Notes

You can use tamarind if the sourness from tomatoes is not enough. You can add little tamarind paste while grinding or you can even replace tomato with a tablespoon of Tamarind paste

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
Beerakaya Pachadi Recipe (Ridge Gourd Chutney)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 148 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 117mg5%
Potassium 107mg3%
Carbohydrates 8g3%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 95IU2%
Vitamin C 21.5mg26%
Calcium 76mg8%
Iron 1.4mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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© Swasthi’s Recipes

Beerakaya Pachadi Recipe (Ridge Gourd Chutney)

About Swasthi

I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me

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5 stars
I tried Ridge gourd recipe with red chilli, it turned so awesome and very delicious. Tq for the recipe.

Hi swasthi, please let me know if I can store this pachadi in fridge for 2-3 days.

Thank you swasthi for your fast reply

5 stars
Swasthigaru Mee recipe Chala bagundhi. Menu hotel management manshi but Mee recipe help tho ee vanta chesanu. Not just my parents and wife but my 2 yr old loved it, though there was a slight variation like less spice and more Tang.

5 stars
good

5 stars
It’s a twisting recipe, No one can make out from the taste that this chutney has been made with ridge gourd. I had this with rice & roti it tasted AWESOME with both.

This kind of veggies is been hated by many of them, even I’m 1 of them, but swsathi the yummy taste of ur recipe always forces me to eat this kind of veggies.

Thank u swasthi for posting such a healthy & tasty recipe, which is a hated veggies, but good for health & u make all of us to eat it, by not making a bad face, but to eat it lovingly.

Once again swasthi a HEARTY THANKS.

Nice recipes

Realmente lindo y delicioso me encanta,abrazos y abrazos.

looks yummy and delicious…

Very yummy chutney…Looks wonderful

Fingerlicking chutney,tempting me a lot.

Delicious chutney shld try some time.

yummy and awesome chutney.

wow, delicious chutney.

looks yummy dear..

Loved the chutneys..you have such a vast collection

Like this with hot rice or even roti. And no two recipes seem the same!