Ridge Gourd Chutney (Heerekai Chutney) is a healthy and tasty chutney made using ridge gourd pulp and a few other spices.
Ridge gourd is known as Turai in Hindi, Heerekai in Kannada, Beerakai in Telugu, Peechinga in Malayalam, and Peerkangai in Tamil. So, if you're bored of regular chutney like coconut chutney, onion tomato chutney, peanut chutney for your morning breakfast or if you're looking for a way to sneak more veggies into your picky eater's diet, give this heerekai chutney a try!
There are many variations of ridge gourd chutney. This is my mom's heerekai chutney recipe, made without the peel. Growing up, she made it at least once a week with jowar rotti or chapati. This chutney is incredibly delicious, and trust me-you'd never guess it has ridge gourd (heerekai) in it! Some people prepare it using the peel, but I only do so if I have organic ridge gourd. Also, try my ridge gourd dal.
Ingredients
- Ridge Gourd: I used fresh green ridge gourd. I peeled the skin for this recipe.
- Green Chillies: I used Indian green chili peppers for the heat.
- Garlic: use fresh garlic cloves.
- Lentils: Roasted urad dal adds a wonderful texture to the chutney, so don't skip it. If you don't have urad dal on hand, you can substitute it with chana dal (Bengal gram) for a similar result.
- Tamarind: Adds tang to the chutney. You can also use store-bought tamarind extract.
- Tempering: I used mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, and oil.
How to Make Ridge Gourd Chutney
Take a pan, and add ½ teaspoon oil. Once the oil is hot, add 1 teaspoon urad dal and fry till it turns light brown.
Sauté 2 green chilies, 3 garlic cloves, and ½ inch tamarind for another minute. Transfer everything to a blender. (You may also add 2 tablespoons of air fryer roasted peanuts to the blender. It makes the chutney taste incredible.)
Sauté 1 cup of chopped ridge gourd (without skin) in ½ teaspoon of oil until lightly browned. Let it cool, and transfer it to the blender.
Grind everything together with salt and jaggery to your desired consistency-either coarse or smooth. [Note: My mom always makes it coarse.]
Prepare a tempering of oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and hing. Add it to the chutney and serve with idli, dosa, rice, or roti.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this chutney with chapati, idli, dosa, hot steamed rice, and rasam.
Tips & Variations
- Urad dal gives a thick consistency to the chutney. You can replace urad dal with chana dal or even roasted peanuts, for this recipe.
- It can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days in an air-tight container.
- Don't add any water to grind, the moisture from the veggies is enough to grind.
- You can replace green chilies with red chilies.
- Use the peel only if you have organic ridge gourd; otherwise, avoid it due to possible pesticide residue. Use organic ingredients wherever possible.
More Indian Chutney Recipes
Ridge Gourd Chutney Recipe (Heerekai Chutney)
Ingredients
- 1 cup ridge gourd without skin (roughly chopped )
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 2 green chilli
- ½ inch tamarind
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon organic jaggery (optional)
- 1 teaspoon oil divided
For Tempering:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
Instructions
- Take a pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add urad dal and fry till they turn light brown.
- Then add green chilies, garlic, tamarind, saute for another 1 minute, and put it in a blender.
- Now fry chopped ridge gourd in a half a teaspoon of oil until it turns light brown and keep aside until it cools down.
- Then grind together everything along with salt, jaggery to a coarse or smooth paste according to your preference. [Note: My mom makes it coarse every time.]
- Add the tempering to the chutney and serve with idli, dosa, rice, or roti.
Video
Notes
- Urad dal gives thick consistency to the chutney. You can replace urad dal with Chana dal for this recipe.
- Don't add any water to grind, the moisture from the veggies is enough to grind.
- You can replace green chilies with red chilies.
- Only if you get Organic ridge gourd, use the peel else try to avoid adding it since there are chances of pesticides on the peel.
- Use organic ingredients wherever possible.
Nutrition
★ Like this recipe? FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube for more quick & easy recipes.
Karen Vasudev
I have made this recipe a couple of times using red chilies, urad dal and roasted chenna dal. I also add some methi seeds and just fry the heerekayi along with the vaggarne. I also added some tamarind paste while frying the veggies. I let it cool, put in the grinder along with some coconut. Came out really good. Thanks
Karen
Bhavana Patil
Hi Karen, Thank you for trying my recipes and sharing your feedback. Will try adding methi seeds next time.
Priya
Thanks for this recipe , Bhavana! I generally do not like heerekayi and was looking for some recipe that can help me get over that. This chutney recipe is a winner!!
I modified by adding grated coconut to it. Was yum!
bhavana
Whoo! glad you liked it.This is my moms style recipe..Last time i tried adding 2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts it was great.Will try adding grated coconut next time.Thanks Priya!
Sumita Pai
Hi ! We made this today and loved it ! Added roasted peanuts after reading the above comment. Thanks !
Bhavana Patil
Hi Sumita, I am glad you liked the recipe...yeah addition of roasted peanuts makes it more tasty.