Allam pachadi is a popular andhra style ginger pickle made with fresh ginger, spices, tamarind & jaggery. It is most commonly eaten during winters or monsoon with rice, idli, dosa, pesarattu and ghee. Ginger pickle is so very popular in andhra cuisine that needs no introduction. Allam translates to ginger and pachadi is a pickle. Hence called allam pachadi in telugu.
Ginger pickle is healthy if consumed in moderation. It works great in keeping the body warm and is best during the monsoon and winters. Allam pachadi goes well with idli, dosa, pesarattu, even tastes good with plain rice and a tsp of ghee.
I have shared another version of ginger chutney here..
To make allam pachadi, the quantity of ingredients to be used depends on the variety we use. Very pungent ginger needs more tamarind, again if the tamarind is very sour and less sweeter, we may need to use less tamarind and more jaggery. All you need to do is adjust the quantity of ingredients while you blend. This is a recipe which we follow at home, do adjust the quantity of certain ingredients to suit your taste. I suggest reading the tips and notes mentioned.
Always handle pickles with moist free dry hands and spoons, as they might spoil them. Do not use plastic jars to store pickles.They keep good in glass or ceramic jars.
For more pickle recipes check
mango pickle
tomato pickle
garlic pickle
drumstick pickle
cauliflower pickle
Allam pachadi or ginger pickle
Allam pachadi
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Seasoning
- 2 sprig curry leaves
- 1 tsp mustard
- 90 ml oil (about 1/3 cup)
- 2 red chilies (broken)
- garlic Few cloves, (crushed)
- 1 Pinch hing
Instructions
Preparation for allam pachadi
- Wash ginger under running water to remove mud and dirt. Peel off the skin if desired. Dry it for some time or overnight on an absorbent paper or cloth.
- Soak tamarind in boiled and cooled water till we need it. Do not use lot of water, it must be just enough to soak the tamarind, so that we get a thick paste.
- Dry roast 1 tbsp. Fenugreek seeds and powder them to fine powder. Set aside only 1 tbsp. powder to use.
- Chop ginger to bite sized pieces and fry them on a medium flame till they turn slightly golden in little oil, for 3 to 4 minutes. Cool these completely
How to make allam pachadi
- Blend it in a mixer to a smooth paste without adding water. Do not let the blender heat up.
- Squeeze filter the tamarind pulp to remove impurities. We need thick tamarind paste, if it is thin, then boil the filtered tamarind to thicken.
- All the ingredients need to be cool at this stage. Add the tamarind pulp, red chili powder, turmeric and salt to the ginger mix. Blend well again.
- Add jaggery and blend again. Do not add the sweetener before you blend all the other ingredients well since this will thicken the mix and the mixer becomes loaded. Check the taste of the pickle now, it has to taste sour, sweet, hot and spicy. Adjust any taste as needed.
- To finish off add methi powder and mix.
- Heat the rest of the oil in a pan, add mustard and garlic. Add curry leaves, red chilies and hing. fry till the leaves turn crisp. Off the stove. Add the ginger pickle to the seasoning and mix well in the hot pan.
- Cool completely and store allam pachadi in a glass bottle.
Notes
To the seasoning, we also add 1 tsp of urad dal and channa dal and fry till golden. This is optional. These dals soak up in the pickle and taste tangy.These taste good when served with rice.
Oil: Do not reduce the quantity of oil. It helps to increase the shelf life
Nutrition
How to make allam pachadi or ginger pickle
1. Fry cubed ginger in little oil till they turn lightly golden , just for about 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Blend it in a blender jar till smooth without adding water.
3. Squeeze off the tamarind pulp through a filter to remove stones and debris.
4. Add red chili powder,turmeric, salt and blend all together.
5. Add jaggery and blend well.
6. Add powdered fenugreek, menthi pindi and blend again.Taste it and check. Adjust any particular taste you want to increase, sweetness, sour, salt and chili.
7. Heat oil in the same pan that you used to fry the ginger. Add mustard, garlic , curry leaves and red chili. I also use 1 tsp each of dals and fry till golden. You can switch off when the curry leaves turn crisp.
8. Add the blended pickle to the hot pan. Stir well for the seasoning to mix well with the allam pachadi.
Cool allam pachadi completely, store in an airtight jar and handle with moist free hands.
