For Independence Day Food Parade on August 15th, I’ve decided to write three recipes which are near and dear to my heart. One each from – my hometown, my state and my country. Today’s one is from my hometown. Some recipes are truly local, like a needlepoint, known and popular only in few homes in a town and surrounding villages. Peanut pachhi pulusu (pachhi =raw/unboiled, pulusu=rasam/soup) is one such recipe from “land of Nandis” – Nandyala, Rayalaseema region.
Peanuts are roasted to golden color, skins removed and then made into smooth paste along with salt, chilli powder, tamarind and jaggery. By adding water, the paste is made into rasam like consistency. Finely sliced onions are added and seasoning is done by popu/tadka. That’s it. This is sort of cold, no-boil rasam and perfect during hot summer days. Often prepared and served with pongal and potato curry, the whole combination tastes awesome and comforting.
Peanuts – Roasted and Golden (Skins Removed)
Recipe:
Roast Peanuts:
Take 2 cups of peanuts in a large skillet and on medium-high heat, roast them to golden color (see photo above) mixing and turning often to prevent scorching. Allow to cool. Rub them with hands to loosen the skins and remove the skins. (Roasting peanuts to golden color is important. Spend few minutes & pay attention to roasting process. Taste of this recipe depends on this step.)
Make a paste:
2 cups of Peanuts – roasted and skins removed (from above)
½ teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
2 tablespoons of powdered jaggery
Take all the above in a blender or in a mortar, crush them to smooth paste by adding 1 cup of water in between.
Finely Slice:
1 big onion – lengthwise, slice thinly and wash them in water to separate the onions pieces and to remove that raw onion smell.
Do the popu/tadka:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a big vessel. Add and toast – few pieces of curry leaves, dried chillies and half teaspoon of mustard seeds and cumin. To this popu/tadka:
Add the smooth peanut paste.
Add the onions.
Stir in about 1 to 2 cups of cold water. Mix and serve.
Make the rasam like thick buttermilk consistency. Have a taste and adjust salt, sweet and sour levels to your taste.
Serve with pongal. This pachhi pulusu (cold rasam) has all 5 essential ruchulu (flavors) and is guaranteed to make one feel cool as a cucumber on a hot day.
Peanut Pachhi Pulusu with Pongal and Potato Kurma ~ Our Fabulous Meal:) Today
A very unique recipe Indira, i have never even heard of it. What a nice start for the food parade
Comment by Archana — August 10, 2006 @ 3:46 pm
wow, looks delicious and yummm… Mega Mela started righteously… eagerly looking for to the event, though not sure what to make it… what happened to my thinking hat? 🙂
Comment by Karthi Kannan — August 10, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
Hmm…a different one. Trying to imagine the taste before i try..does it taste more like peanut pachadi( the one eat that goes with idlis)?
Comment by vallika — August 10, 2006 @ 4:10 pm
wow! I havent heard of this! Thanks for the constant inspiration…someday I will muster up enough courage to actually post what I cook 😀
Comment by disha — August 10, 2006 @ 4:18 pm
Archana: Very much ‘Nandyala’, this recipe is. Two more recipes to go.:)
Thanks Karthi.
Make it easy, make it smooth and make it float, afterall it’s for parade and we want a smooth ride 😀
Yep, less spicy and because of jaggery little bit sweet. Great with pongal, good if you drink it like plain rasam(soup), ok( but not recommended) with rice.
If you try, let me know how you like it Vallika. Thanks.
Try it once, you’ll get hooked on cooking-high easily. 🙂 How about for Independence Day?:)
Thanks Disha.
For Egg puffs, you can try them with paratha dough, I guess. I don’t know how flaky they’ll be when baked.
Comment by Indira — August 10, 2006 @ 4:35 pm
Indira,
I have following the Jihva for Ingredients for last 2 weeks and amazing recipes on all the blogs.. I am truly inspired.. I will start to post my recipes too…
Pachi Pulusu took me back to my mom’s cooking… I come from a telangana reddy household (from Karimnagar, Warangal region of Andhra Pradesh) and pachipulusu has always been my favourite… we make a similar kind of Pachi Pulusu using sesame seeds, same procedure but peanuts are replaced by sesame seeds.. tastes awesome.. I will post the recipe hopefully sometime soon…
Shruthi
Comment by Shruthi Reddy — August 10, 2006 @ 5:01 pm
hi Indira,
Never heard of this recipe before. Looks delicious…..great start for the Parad…
Comment by Madhu — August 10, 2006 @ 5:14 pm
This is such a unique recipe. Need to try for sure. Can I come to share your fabulous meal? 🙂
Comment by Kerala girl — August 10, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
What a unique recipe ! Great start to food parade !
Comment by krithika — August 10, 2006 @ 9:16 pm
What a coincidence, Indira! I just posted ‘Pachi Pulusu’ today…It’s the one without peanuts, the way my mom-in-law makes it…
I will surely try this one over the weekend…
Am eagerly waiting for your other recipes.. 🙂
Comment by Chandrika — August 10, 2006 @ 9:40 pm
that’s a very nice recipe.i haven’t heard of it before.gr8t going
Comment by madhuli — August 10, 2006 @ 11:17 pm
Hi Indira,
We make pachi pulusu but with peanuts I never heard of it,Its nice to some thing new to learn,pachi pulus nooru urinchestundi ,thanks for sharing yummy dish from ur hometown.
Comment by tanuja — August 10, 2006 @ 11:42 pm
Hi Indira, the photo of peanut pachhi pulusu made me nostalgic. Though we don’t make it in our home, I tasted it many a time, long ago. In the early 80’s, my father got transferred to Rayachoti’s SBI branch. We stayed there for 5 years and are familiar with rayalaseema vantalu and the good hearted locals. You made me take a tour down the memory lane…our visits to Lepakshi, Nandyala, Mahanandi, Rishi Valley, Madana palle, Horsely hills, Allagadda, Ahobalam (or ahobilam?) Ontimitta near Cuddapah etc…You gave me a chance to freshen my memories…the taste of pachhi pulusu, the smell of siddhavatam dosakayalu, tampata verusanaga kayalu and the friendly people calling the fellow humans akka and anna….
Indira replies:
It’s so good to hear from a person who can understand what I am talking about.:)
Ahobilam, one of my favorite temples.
Yep, akka, anna and atta, maama. Good people our country folks are.
Thanks Anuradha!
Comment by Anuradha — August 11, 2006 @ 4:48 am
hi Indira,nice recepie. I am from vizag and we make similar pulusu,except that, instead of chilli poeder we cut green chillies and add them along with onions.
great going.keep it up
Comment by anoo — August 11, 2006 @ 5:01 am
[…] She has this fascinating looking recipe for Peanut Cold Rasam on today. Even my well-versed tongue cannot recall this taste. So this weekend this recipe shall be tried. […]
Pingback by Peanut Cold Rasam for the soul at Within / Without — August 11, 2006 @ 5:13 am
Browsing through the comments it looks like I am the first guy commenting here* 🙂
Let me start by complimenting on the way you write about your recipes besides the great recipes you have here. It was a pleasure bumping into this blog :). I wish I had all the ingredients to try out these amazing dishes. But will definitely try out some. I scrolled through the page to see which dish has the least ingredients, my hunt is still on 🙂
*(wrt this post)
Comment by Vikas Garg — August 11, 2006 @ 11:55 am
Indira
Tell me this- Isnt’ the taste like peanut chutney ??? I am just curious to know about it !!
Indira replies:
Almost like that, but in a more subtle, mild way . Also we add jaggery to it and make it watery like rasam.
Try it with half cup of roasted peanuts and see you like it. Doesn’t take more than 10 minutes, if you have already roasted peanuts on hand and you can findout my hometown taste.:)
Comment by revathi — August 11, 2006 @ 1:01 pm
We make it the exact same way..
absolutly delicious pachi pulusu..
Its lunch time here in CA and I am hungry 🙂
Comment by santhi — August 11, 2006 @ 2:54 pm
The picture makes my mouth water and has that cooling feeling in my stomach. Great authentic recipe
Comment by shankari — August 11, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
Indira- what delicious recipe! I have never heard of this before, but sounds and looks amazing 🙂
Comment by mandira — August 11, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
This looks very satisfying. I will make a trip to Queens to get some really special peanuts for this recipe.
Comment by the chocolate lady (eqj) — August 15, 2006 @ 8:30 am
Awesome website!!!!!!!!!
Comment by poorni — August 31, 2006 @ 4:59 pm
Thanks for the recipe “patchi pulusu”.
However it may be clarified that, I have been enjoying this delicacy, taken with pulagannam, for years. I am from Anantapur – the land of gold and diamonds.
I used worry that, the several recipes of fantastic food items my mother prepares for us, might be lost in time.
No more worries! These recipes belong neither to the land of the nandies nor to the land of gold and diamonds.
BUT TO THE LAND OF RATANALA SEEMA MANA RAYALASEEMA.
Thank you Indira.
Comment by indrani — September 13, 2006 @ 7:21 am
My mother in law made this for me when we visited them in May this year. She belongs to Warangal. I loved it and a going to try it for sure 🙂 we had it with palak koora pappu.
Comment by Raaga — July 24, 2007 @ 4:55 am
Dear Indira garu, Best recipe and I should say signature dish of your blog; its beauty lies in its simplicity. And I’ve discovered it is comfort food of highest order- just like Amma it makes you warm and contented from within. Kudos!
Comment by jyotsna — December 10, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
Dear Indiraji,
My heartfelt thanks for this great yet simple recipe.It is my hubby’s favorite dish and no matter how i tried it , “It never tastes the way my grandma made” was the most common refrain.Thanks to you its settled finally.
I also tried ur chana dal payasam recipe and it came out great.Thanks a lot for maintaining this tradition of great recipes and my best wishes for this excellent blog!
Comment by Dr.Farida Asma — September 27, 2008 @ 12:55 am
people want to have tulasi water when they are about to die,,, but for me …..pachi pulusu. i mean it.
Comment by sudhi — November 29, 2010 @ 10:29 am
Indira Garu Namaste
I have been following your site for long.Your recipes are unique and when follwed as per the recipe are truly amazing.Helped me to sustain on my assignments in far flung places like Vietnam,China and now in Seoul Korea when I had to be away from family.Thanks again
Comment by Jayadev — August 26, 2011 @ 2:03 am
The way of articulating Recipes are execellent,
I ever and nevar seen such more informative blog till now… All recipes are fantastic.
Once more thing i observed here… completely used Nandyala slang items names (that’s i like it more)
Thanks lots…
Comment by Gopala — September 22, 2012 @ 12:13 pm
wow –
Im from Nandyala and Im looking for all the rayalaseema dishes. Great found and great recipe. Reminded me of the Grand ma days.
Comment by Arvind — April 15, 2014 @ 1:45 pm