నువ్వుల పచ్చడి -Nuvvula Pacchadi: Sesame seed Chutney

 Serves: Five. Preparation time: 15 minutes. 

Ingredients:  

1 Cup Sesame seeds

4 finely sliced Green chillies or Dry red chillies

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Jaggery (or Brown sugar)

1 Tbsp Tamarind paste

Method:

1. Dry roast the Sesame seeds on low heat until they turn brown, around 4 minutes on a fresh saucepan. Set aside to cool. 


2. Dry toast the chillies for a minute until the green ones wither, or the red ones give off an aroma. Set aside to cool. 

3. Grinding: Add the cooled sesame seeds, salt and chillies to the mixer jar. Sesame seeds are rich in oil and clump together when ground. Hence, grind for short durations of time and mix the contents so that the ground seeds come up while unground seeds go down. Coarse grind. 

4. Mix in the sugar, tamarind paste and water (3/4 cup but adjust according to the water contributed by Tamarind paste+green chillies). Run the mixer once so that they get thoroughly mixed. 

Serve with hot rice. 

Precautions/Variations:

1. If you want to refrigerate this pacchadi to last for a few days, use dry red chillies. However, if you prepare a small quantity for immediate consumption as was made traditionally, use green chillies.

2. This simple pacchadi has extensive scope for improvization. You can add roasted Cumin seeds. You can omit the jaggery and include some roasted peanuts, or grated coconut, Or roasted Chickpeas (Putnala pappu). Follow your heart.

3. Ingredient measures can be adjusted to taste.

4. Sesame seeds are rich in oil & very tiny in size whereby they get heated up very quickly and can get burnt in a matter of seconds. Hence, while roasting, make sure the heat is low and keep stirring frequently for even browning. They continue to brown even when taken off the heat. 
5. Sugar caramalizes if heated. Mixer jar & blades heat up while grinding. Clumps of sugar can stick to the heated mixer jar blades and spoil the apparatus if not mixed in properly. Therefore, be sure to thoroughly mix in the sugar right at the end.

Culture and Health:

This pacchadi is rich in protein and essential minerals.

Sesame seed is a wonder food. It is an excellent source of heavy metals and minerals such as Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Copper, Manganese. It is rich in antioxidants and has anti-cancer properties. The unpolished creamy-brown Sesame seed is better for health since the husk is rich in minerals while the polished shiny white seed loses most of its mineral content. A common traditional Indian snack is prepared by combining Jaggery-Sesame seed, the perfect protein-carbohydrate balance food. Ayurveda classifies Sesame seed as a 'heat giving' food. It enhances the metabolism and is advised to be consumed during severe winter months. 

Sesame seed oil is extensively used in cooking. It doesn't easily go rancid  & preserves food due to its high anti-oxidant load. Hence, it is used in preparing long-life preserves such as Avakaya & Mukkala pacchadi . It is a very light oil that can be easily absorbed into the skin, an ideal base for perfumed oils, massage oils, medicated hair oils in Ayurveda.  

The Sesame plant was first domesticated & farmed in India, it has been found in the ruins of the Harappan civilization. Unprocessed whole black Sesame seed is part of the Nava dhanya used in Yagnam. It is called तिल (Til) in Sanskrit. In fact, the word तैल (Teyla), Sanskrit for Oil, has its origins in Til. It is considered the next best to Cow ghee for use in religious ceremonies and can be offered to the Elements. One cannot stress the importance of this tiny little seed in Hindu culture.

Trivia:

My mother told me about this recipe. It is part of the quick బండ పచ్చడులు (Banda pacchadulu) that her grandmother used to make with a mortar-pestle.