Cucumber Kichadi | Vellarikka Kichadi
Diced cucumber smothered in a creamy coconut and silken tofu gravy seasoned with ground mustard seeds.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cucumber diced
- 1 green chili slit
- salt to taste
Coconut Mixture
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 1/2 box (12.3 oz) soft silken tofu regular tofu will also work
- 1-2 tbsp lemon or lime juice juice from approximately 1/2 of a lime or lemon
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 green chili
- 1/4 cup water
Tempering
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 dried whole red chili
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
Instructions
- Peel, deseed, and dice the cucumber. Typically Malabar cucumber's are used to make this curry but I've made it with other types of cucumbers too and they work just fine.
- Add diced cucumber, slit green chili and salt along with around 1/4 cups of water and cook on low.
- While the cucumber is cooking, add all the coconut mixture ingredients to a blender.
- This is the kind of silken tofu I usually use. Since it's shelf-stable it's convenient to keep a few in the pantry.
- Blend to a smooth paste.
- Add the coconut paste to the cooked cucumber and mix well.
- Cook for another minute or two.
- Meanwhile, heat coconut oil in a pan, when it's hot add mustard seeds, whole red chili, and curry leaves. When you put the curry leaves in be prepared for a lot of spluttering. You can put a lid on right afterward for a few seconds to prevent all the mustard seeds from popping out and to protect yourself from splattering oil.
- Mix in the tempered oil into the cucumber mixture and enjoy!
