Easy Ugadi Pachadi – a traditional, healthy and festive no-cook dish with raw mangoes, tamarind, jaggery, black pepper and neem leaves and/or neem flowers prepared to celebrate Ugadi (traditional New Year) in Karnataka (in southern India) Mostly made as part of a New Year spread as offering to God, all the elements (flavors and textures) in this dish represent the various emotions life offers to us during our journey on this beautiful earth. Although I made this last year, I am sharing this post with you all this year (one of many in my drafts!). Do read through to know more about this unique dish and origin/significance of this wonderful traditional drink/soupy salad. Jump to Recipe
WHAT IS UGADI PACHADI?
Ugadi is Hindu New Year’s Day generally celebrated in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh. Although the world knows January 1st as New Year’s Day, In India, most states celebrate their regional new year on different days depending upon the traditional Hindu calendar which varies from the English calendar. This year, 2021,Ugadi for the people of the above states falls on April 13th, and as I come from the state of Karnataka, I will be celebrating on that day too. Ugadi Pachadi is traditionally made on that day. Pachadi is nothing but a kind of salad or dish using raw veggies in southern Indian cooking like my favorite Green Apple Pachadi or this lip smacking Ambuli Pachadi using raw mangoes. So, on this day, a fresh soupy salad or you may call it drink is prepared by just mixing water with some jaggery, tamarind paste, salt, black pepper powder, chopped raw mangoes and bits of neem leaves and/or flowers to make for a well balanced spicy, savory, sweet, tangy and slightly bitter pachadi. Traditionally, on this day, it is offered to the Gods as Naivedyam or offering and then consumed by everyone as prasad or offering from God. I came to know about this dish recently and fell in love with the whole tangy, sour, peppery, sweet and bitter taste in every spoon. Being a food blogger opens you up the knowledge of so many hidden recipes which are ancestors made and are now slowly being revealed due to social media! We have a huge Neem tree in our company backyard, so my husband brought a bunch to make this unique dish as well as to use in juices and smoothies; immunity building exercise going on. Traditionally neem flowers too are used, but our tree did not have any at this time.
WHY THIS PACHADI FOR UGADI?
The flavors of the basic ingredients in this pachadi symbolize what life offers to us in various stages of our journey on this earth and which we must accept at all times to experience life fully:
Sweet taste of jaggery represents the happiness we come across in life. Tangy, sour tamarind represents the disgust we must sometimes experience when faced with unpleasant situations. Sourness and pungency of raw mangoes represents the surprise life offers us. Sadness/sorrow or bitterness which is also part of our lives is represented by the bitter neem leaves/flowers in this dish. Fiery black pepper symbolizes the anger we sometimes feel. Lastly, salt which is necessary to flavor all dishes represents fear; the unknown.
So, basically, life will be a balanced mix of all these emotions and feelings every human will experience and should be accepted by all. If you look at it health wise and nutrition wise too, Ugadi Pachadi has many health benefits. As summer starts bearing upon us and our body is bombarded with harsh weather, this dish contains different ingredients which heal us and boost our immunity in general:
Neem has anti-fungal properties and medicinal properties among others. Raw mango and tamarind fight infections, helps in indigestion etc. Pepper improves immunity and fights skin infections. Jaggery flushes out toxins and cleanses the liver among other benefits. Salt prevents dehydration and adds to the loss of sodium in our body that occurs due to excessive sweating in summer.
It is amazing how our ancestors came up with dishes like this; perfect to suit every season and tradition as well as totally with local ingredients and nutritious to boot! So, do make it this summer (and every summer!), regardless of whether you celebrate Ugadi or not and reap the full benefits of this easy to make, lip smacking and quick salad/drink called “Ugadi Pachadi”, a traditional dish from Karnataka. Most ingredients are available in almost all Indian kitchens but neem leaves are a bit difficult to source sometimes, so you can use methi or fenugreek seeds or powder instead for the bitter element too. If you do make it, please do share your thoughts in the comment box below or on my Instagram or Facebook page. Happy Ugadi and Enjoy!
Here are a few dishes I would recommend to make along with Ugadi Pachadi during this festival:
Tamarind Rice Lemon Rice Madgane or Chana Dal Payasam Barley Payasam Mysuru Style Bisi bele Bhaath
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