NEEM FLOWER PACHADI, VEPAMPOO PACHADI

 I remember six year old, we were going to Madras (now Chennai).  I was fed up of sitting in the train for a longer hours and asked my mom when are we going to reach?  my mother said tomorrow.  I said i want to get down and go home to which my mother said, i will allow you to get down at the next station and you go home alone.  I got scared and kept quite.  After reaching Madras, we were playing,  that time,  my mom told me and my cousin to go to terrace and collect the neem flowers.  when we went to terrace, i could not believe,  such a lot of fresh flowers were lying like a carpet. we collected plenty of it in a bag and brought down.  Since that age, i am familiar with the rasam, pachadi.  In the beginning i felt it bit bitter, but we used to have karela, bitter gourd subzi, i liked these dishes also very much.

Neem flower pachadi, rasam is made during the Tamil New Year which falls mostly on 14th April.  This flowers are also available at that time, very fresh.  This pacahdi is made with mango, jaggery, chilli powder. You can use tamarind instead of mango.  Use the mangoes which are not ripe but not raw which will have a sweet and sour taste.  If you are using raw mango, ensure that less sour one is picked.

Neem flower pachadi

  Vepampoo pachadi has got five unique flavours viz salt, bitterness (neem flowers), sweetness (jaggery, vellam, sarkara), mango (sour), spice (red chilli powder).
neem-flower-rasam-vepampoo-rasam-rasam,   neem flower raita  watchyoutube : neem flower pachadi

Let us have a look at the recipe

Ingredients:

1/'4 cup  mango sliced
1 tbsp neem flower (vepampoo)
a pinch of turmeric powder
1 tsp jaggery
1/2 tsp chilli powder (increase if you want)
salt
water

Ingredients of vepampoo pachadi

Tempering:

1 tsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (venthayam, uluva)
few curry leaves
4-5 broken red chilly pieces


Method:

Cook the raw mango in 3/4 cup water till soft by adding turmeric powder,chilli powder,  jaggery and salt.
when it is cooked, mash it with the laddle.
Now heat ghee in kadai, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves
when it is done add the vepampoo in it and immediately transfer it to the pachadi otherwise the flowers will get burnt since it is dry.
serve hot with rice.

Since I used dried flowers, no need to fry them in ghee.  if you are having fresh flowers, you have to fry them in ghee till brown.  You can also fry the grated coconut and put it.

hope you will enjoy this dish and do give me the feedback till i see with another interesting recipe.


Note: depending upon the sourness of mango, add chilli powder and jaggery accordingly.  The pachadi thickens when it is cool.

2)  You can also grind coconut with little cumin seeds and add to it.  another way of making it.

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