Kaayi Regi palla pachadi/Raw ber chutney

Regi pandu is called ber in hindi, elachi hannu in Kannada, ilanthai pazham in Tamil and Indian jujube or Indian plum/dates in English. A seasonal fruit hits the markets around mid October and is available until early march. We have already posted a chutney recipe with the ripe fruits: regi palla pachadi. We now use the semi-ripe fruit referred to as doraga unde regipandu in Telugu. Therefore, for this recipe, we need fruits that are not very raw and not too ripe. They have to be half-ripe, and these are mostly available during the months of November -December.

Ingredients:

Semi-ripe Indian Jujubes (Doraga unna regipandu) 250 gms

Red chillies 14

Green chillies 5

Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) 2 tsp

Black gram (Urad dal/uddipappu) 2 tsp

Refined cooking oil 4-5 tsp

Mustard seeds (rai/aavalu) 1 tsp

Bengal gram (chanadal/senagabedalu) 1 tsp

Curry leaves 4-5

A pinch of asafoetida

Salt to taste

Method:

Take the semi-ripe jujubes and de–seed them. Do not peel. In the process, they are cut to small pieces.

Dry roast 10 red chillies, 5 green chillies and a tsp each of cumin and black gram each separately in a drop of oil and set aside to cool. Once at room temperature grind them all to a fine powder.

Heat oil and fry the jujubes for around 10 minutes on low flame. When the fruits feel cooked, set aside to cool.

Add to the blender the fried jujubes, above ground masala and salt to taste. Blend to a fine paste.

Heat oil and add 4 red chillies and mustard seeds. As they pop, add a tsp each of Bengal gram, black gram and cumin. Add curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Season over the jujube paste and mix well.

Kaayi regipalla pachadi is a great rice supplement and tastes well as a brown bread or Indian bread spread. Instant chutney, it shall stay good for a couple of days if refrigerated. Get going to the nearest store, pick the jujubes and enjoy fruity and spicy chutney.