Gongura Thokku | Pachadi | Pickle

Gongura / Pulicha keerai  is a plant, grown for its edible leaves, and it is called by different names in India. With this gongura leaves, we will be making a very tasty and addictive pickle, also know as thokku or pachadi. Gongura pickle is spicy and tangy in taste, soo good with hot rice and a drizzle of ghee. Easy to make this delicious pickle with this recipe, super fresh and preservative free, much better than store brought! Make this homemade Gongura Pickle during summer and enjoy it for the rest of the year.

This recipe includes,

• Step by step pictures of how to make the gongura pickle on the stove top
• What is Gongura ? and its benefits
• Tips and variations to the spice levels
• Serving suggestions and storing instructions
• Yield from the recipe

Gongura  is a seasonal greens and only available during summer. This is the right time to buy it, when I went to the Indian groceries this week, gongura was first on my list to buy. I was lucky to get it, was super fresh and I immediately grabbed it to make my first batch. Keep an eye out for it, when you go for shopping next time. If you find it, buy at least 2 to three bunches, so you can make this pickle and store it for at least 3 to 4  months.

I love any dish made with gongura. Especially when it is mom’s recipe, it turns out so good! This instant Gongura mix recipe is a saver for me when I am not able to cook. With leftover rice, I simply mix this ready to eat pickle /thokku and eat, so easy right? My mom when ever she leaves back to India after her vacation time with us. She prepares many ready to eat pickles / mixes for us, and refrigerates it, one such mix is gongura.

What is Gongura?

Gongura is a plant, Roselle (Kenaf Leaves in english), grown for its edible leaves in India and few other countries. It  comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. I used red stemmed leaves in this recipe. These leaves is a rich source of iron, vitamins, folic acid and anti-oxidants essential for human nutrition. Many usually take sorrel for lot of its medicinal values. Its help in reducing inflammation in nasal passage , aides in digestion and many more. Including the fresh leaves in the food is the best way to consume it.

Variations to the gongura pickle /thokku consistency

• I chopped the gongura leaves into small pieces or simply tear the leaves into smaller size using the hands. Then I add it to the recipe without grinding it, which is also one step less in the process. I like a bit coarse pickle consistency like the once they sell in the store. Trust me this will be perfect consistency just like store brought pickles even without grinding it. Make sure to tear leaves into smaller size.
• But if you like it little finer texture, then first sauté the fresh leaves in few teaspoon of oil (until the leaves shrinks in sizes, approximately 1 minutes in medium flame). Grind the sautéed leaves in the mixer to your preferred consistency and then add to the pan after you add the tempering. Then add grounded mixture, tamarind paste and salt and rest follow the below recipe.

What variety chilies to use and how to adjust the spice levels?

• I used regular spice – long dry red chilies variety from Indian market. The pickle is not very spicy, medium hot spice level is what I would say. Because we do add little jaggery, it perfectly balances out the spiciness from the chillies. With a drizzle of ghee with the mix and rice also helps to reduce spiciness.
• If you want it extra hot ? You can use extra hot dry red chilies variety available in the Indian market. You can also use any other dry red chilies variety available in the market / or in online Amazon. If adding extra hot chilies, make sure to use less quantity than given in the recipe or make the pickles in smaller batches.

What tamarind to use and how much to add ?

I used store brought tamarind paste / pulp, available in the Indian market. It comes in a glass jar or a in a plastic container, and can be found over the shelf. Sometimes the consistency is thick or watery depending on the brand you buy. I used a tamarind pulp which was a little watery, so I added 2 tablespoons in the recipe. If the tamarind paste is thick , then add 1 tablespoon first and then add more if required at the end.

How to make homemade tamarind pulp?

• I made homemade tamarind pulp from the block tamarind available in the Indian market or in the Amazon online.
• If using homemade tamarind from the recipe below, follow the recipe process in the link. Quantity you will need to take small lemon sized tamarind in 2 and 1/2 cups of water and extract the tamarind juice and then add the extracted pulp to the recipe. In this case you need not add 2 and 1/2 cups water again as mentioned in the recipe below, the water in the tamarind pulp will be enough. To extract tamarind juice follow the recipe here – How To Extract Tamarind Juice 

How to clean and dry the fresh Gongura leaves?

• Pluck only the leaves from the stem. In a wide bowl, add enough water and leaves, and clean /rinse it well to remove any impurities. Drain the dirty water and repeat the above step once or twice depending on the dirt on the leaves.
• Drain the water completely from the leaves, and pat dry them on a paper towel /cloth, some water on the leaves is okay. This is optional – cleaning and drying the leaves overnight will save some time and leaves will get dried thoroughly.

What to do with the leftover steam after plucking the leaves?

This is most useful thing, “YOU CAN REGROW NEW LEAVES” with this steam. Soak the root part ( bottom side of the stem)  in a cup of tap water for one full day or two. Then plant the stem directly in the soil or in a large pot ( depending on the number of stems). Water them regular everyday, you will see new leaves popping up in a weeks time. You can pluck these new leaves directly from the plant and use it in the recipe. I buy few bunches of gongura only once in the starting of summer, and re use the stem to grow fresh leaves for the entire summer, how cool is this right? 

Serving suggestion

• Gongura pickle / thokku can be served with the white rice with a drizzle of  ghee (clarified butter) ,
• You can make the tastiest dosa with the Gongura spread. After making the dosa (Indian crepes) , spread the pickles on the dosa and serve or you could add potato masala as well on the spread and serve.
• It is good with idli , plain dosa , chapatti / roti, plain yogurt/ curd rice, any rice varieties, etc. Can also be used as a spread over the bread toast.

Storing instructions

After you make the gongura pickles, cool down completely to room temperature. Store the pickles in a clean, air dried, and air tight glass container ( highly recommend glass). Refrigerator the gongura pickles for up to three months or more if used / handled properly. Make sure to use a clean dry spoon every time you use it and immediately  refrigerate any leftover. Better to refrigerate it in the inner most portion of the fridge ( away from the door). Most importantly if making it in bulk for the season, I recommend storing it in different jars , so you don’t have to take the entire mix out every time. Also make sure to add the given quantity of oil given in the recipe.

Do we need to reheat or microwave the refrigerated Gongura pickle?

Not necessary to reheat it or microwave not recommended, leave the required quantity of gongura pickle for 15 to 20 minutes outside the refrigerator before serving it. When mixing it with hot rice, pickle temperature really doesn’t matter.

What is the yield from this recipe?

This recipe yields 450 grams of gongura pickle / thokku

Check out the popular Gongura Chicken Curry Recipe from the blog in the link below ( The picture below is the gongura chicken picture from the blog)

• Instant Pot Gongura Chicken Curry Recipe

For other instant mix recipes, I have listed few recipe below. For the complete list of recipes, check the link here –Instant Mix , spices mix and pickles

• Healthy Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix – Air Fryer

Stepwise pictures of how to make the Gongura pickle / thokku / pachadi

Ingredients for roasting and grinding – Sesame oil , dry red chilies, fenugreek seeds /vendhayam.  Ingredients for tempering – black mustard seeds, whole urad dal,  dried red chilies , minced garlic and sesame oil.

Other Ingredients – Chopped Gongura leaves, salt, tamarind pulp, sesame oil , jaggery ( forgot to show it in the picture), and mentioned water quantity.

Roast and grind

In a pan add sesame oil, and heat in medium – low flame. Once oil is hot, add red chilies, and sauté until golden brown (approximately 1 to 2 minutes, make sure it doesn’t get burnt), remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan and remaining oil, add fenugreek seeds / vendhayam,  sauté until it starts to bursts /crackle, remove from the pan.

Once the chillies and fenugreek seeds cools down. Add it to the mixer and grind it coarsely (make sure there is no big piece of chili left without grinding).

Cook the gongura leaves with the grounded mixture

Take a deep or wide pan, add oil and heat in medium high flame. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and sauté until it starts to burst / crackle, then add urad dal, minced garlic, red chilies, and sauté until the tempering turn brown ( not burnt). Do not cover the pan, let all of the tampering ingredients crackle fully and stop until then keep sautéing (its gives a good flavor). Now add all the chopped Gongura leaves, and sauté for a minute or until the leaves shrinks in size, and changes in color. Note – if the pan is small to hold all the leaves, first add some, sauté and then add the rest.

At this stage, add the roasted and ground mixture (red chili and fenugreek) , tamarind paste, salt, remaining oil and 450ML of water and stir well. Let it cook in medium- low flame. Stir in-between and make sure it does not get burnt at the bottom of the pan. Not necessary to cover the pan fully with the lid, but please be cautioned hot liquid will splatter when the thokku is cooking.

Keep sautéing until all the water is absorbed, and oil will start to separate from the pickle /thokku ( you’ll notice it in the sides/ edges of the pan, this may take 15 to 20 minutes approximately).

Also you will notice the pickle will start to leave the sides of the pan and come together ( thokku consistency will thicken once it cools down).

Finally add the powdered jaggery, stir well until the jaggery is mixed. Switch off the flame, cool down completely before storing it. Best served with white rice with a drizzle of ghee.