From the moment that pineapple hits the shops in late Spring or Summer, it is a regular feature in our kitchen. Salads of course, or just wedges to suck at. But then there are curries, grilled when BBQing, and endless cooling juices.
You can browse all of our Pineapple recipes. And check out our 100 Vegetable Series.
Continue reading “100 Vegetables (and Fruits): #84. Pineapple”
Tamarind is a natural match with tropical fruits, and this salad is hot, sour and tangy. It is a take on an Indonesian salad, and is perfect in Summer when we have the sweetest of pineapples available. The cucumber is seeded before being diced.
What a delicious dish this is, the tamarind and vinegar adding the sour notes and the chilli the hot notes – these play beautifully with the sweetness of the pineapple and the coolness of the cucumber.
Similar recipes include Hawaiian Chilli Pineapple Salad, Tamarind and Lime Dressing, Cucumber Salad with Rice Vinegar, and Balinese Sambal Iris.
Browse our Pineapple recipes and our Cucumber dishes. Our Indonesian dishes ar ehere. Or explore our Mid Summer dishes.
Continue reading “Pineapple and Cucumber Salad with Tamarind Chilli Dressing”
As mentioned in previous posts, in India and Sri Lanka tropical fruits such as pineapple are often eaten sprinkled with chilli powder or black pepper (or maybe chaat masala) and salt. Lime juice or amchur can be added. Its delicious, easy, and a great outdoors snack.
But in South India and Sri Lanka, pineapple is also used in curries, often with coconut milk. This is a typical Sri Lankan Pineapple Curry with coconut milk, pandanus and Badapu Thuna Paha to flavour the dish. You can make your own Badapu Thuna Paha (roasted Curry Powder), or purchase from a Sri Lankan or South Indian grocery. Or substitute any roasted curry powder.
Similar dishes include Pineapple Pulissery, Green Mango in Coconut Milk, Sri Lankan Okra Curry with Coconut Milk, and Aubergines in Coconut Milk.
Or browse our Pineapple recipes and all of our Sri Lankan dishes. Our Indian recipes are here, and Indian Essentials here. Otherwise, explore our Late Summer collection of recipes
Pineapples are very cheap here at different times of the year, often selling for under $1. At these times we like to grab a couple and make juices and cook our favourite dishes. This is one of them – pineapple grilled on the BBQ – so Summery! – and them mixed with chilli, herbs, lime, and another Summer favourite, a dressing made from Green Tomatoes. Wowee!
You can make this salad with halved, stoned peaches too (Divine!), some partially roasted red grapes (oh my!), roasted figs (drool!) and even sweet plums! Think about using honey dew melon or rockmelon (perhaps without grilling). Or change the dressing for a herbaceous, chilli-garlic-spice dressing.
Similar recipes include Pineapple and Cucumber Salad with Tamarind Dressing, Cucumber and Pineapple Kachumber, Chilli Pineapple Salad, and Green Tomato and Pineapple Salsa.
Browse all of our Pineapple recipes and all of our Salads. Or explore our Late Summer dishes.
Continue reading “Grilled Pineapple with Chilli, Basil and Green Tomato Dressing”
I love fresh pineapple, so much so that it (mostly) overcomes the need to peel it and remove the eyes before the juicy slices can be used. This year I have made two Madhura Pachadi dishes, both delicious. They are from Kerala. One has a little coconut but no yoghurt and is a little like a spicy halwa, and this one where the pineapple is cooked in a tamarind base. It also contains a little coconut. BTW there are many other versions of Madhura Pachadi, but we love these two.
Kerala has the best dishes, don’t you think? That is after Tamil Nadu of course.
Similar dishes include
Browse all of our Pachadi recipes, all of our Pineapple dishes,and all of our Keralite dishes. Or explore our Mid Summer recipes.
Continue reading “Madhura Pachadi | Kerala Pineapple Pachadi with Tamarind”
Pineapples are ripening at the moment, and along with all of the other magnificent produce in the shops, they are abundant, cheap and delicious. I am not a fan of peeling pineapples with all those eyes to cut out (some have more than others), but the occasional recipe is worth it. Today we are making a Pachadi – a side dish – from pineapple. This dish from Kerala is quite unusual. Commonly, Pachadis from Tamil Nadu and Kerala have a yoghurt base for the vegetable component, or include an amount of coconut. This one has some coconut, but it cooks the pineapple, grapes and plantain to the point that it is jammy, almost like a halwa. But don’t be fooled, it is spicy with sweet and sour tastes. It tastes a little like a pickle, or a cross between a pickle and a pachadi. It is definitely a dish where less is more when serving – a couple of Tblspns along with rice, thorans and other Kerala sadya dishes. It is delicious, I am sure you will come back for seconds.
There are two main versions of Madhura Pachadi, this one flavours the pachadi with powdered mustard seeds, and another which cooks the pineapple in tamarind. The recipe today is based on one from Elephants and Coconut Trees. You can chop the pineapple into pieces that are about 1 – 1.5 cm and they will retain a little bite when cooked (yummy) or chop smaller and it will melt into a halwa type consistency (also yummy).
Similar recipes include Dried Apricot Pachadi, Madhura Pachadi with Tamarind, Bitter Melon Pachadi, Green Tomato Pachadi, and Ginger Pachadi.
Browse all of our Pachadi recipes and all of our Keralite dishes. Or explore our Mid Summer recipes.
Continue reading “Madhura Pachadi | Kerala Pineapple, Plantain and Grape Pachadi”
Our weather this year has seen bees and koalas dying in the heat, and tiny fruit forming drop from the trees. It has been a wicked Summer. For the first time ever I am without coriander leaves as they have burnt to a crisp.
In the heat of the Summer one of our favourite coolers is a pineapple based drink with citrus and strawberries, finished off with cooling coconut milk. I like it in the evenings with a touch of alcohol too. We rarely drink alcohol, it is just our preference, but this is one drink that will tempt me on a 40C+ day.
Similar drinks include Nimbu Sherbet, Tamarind Summer Cooler, Roasted Green Mango Drink, and Ginger Cooler.
Browse all of our Coolers and all of our Drinks. Or explore our Late Summer recipes.
Continue reading “The Ultimate Cooler – Pineapple Juice with Strawberries, Coconut and Lime”
There is nothing better than balmy weather, and pineapples are in the markets! So we bring a slightly tropical feel to the table today with a special salad of cucumbers and pineapple.
Kachumber is a Hindi word for chopped into small pieces, and is sometimes also called a Parsi Salad. It has a pepper and lemon or lime dressing that can often include fresh chilli peppers or chilli powder. The dressing is unique to this salad, as it does not contain any oil and gives a peppery tang to the salad.
Similar recipes include Spring Onion Kachumber, Peppery Multi Coloured Kachumber, Carrot and Cashew Kachumber, Madhura Pachadi with Tamarind, Apple and Yoghurt Salad with Grapes, Kachumber, and Chickpeas and Ginger Kachumber.
You might like to see our Collection of Kachumber Salads.
Browse all of our Kachumbers, and our Indian Salads. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Late Spring recipes.
I went searching for some pineapple in the supermarket the other day, and nearly picked up a tub of chunks of pineapple for over $6 because I thought it might be my only option. It probably contained less than half a pineapple. I don’t often buy fruit and veg in the supermarket (for all sorts of reasons) but when something is less common or slightly out of season, they are more likely to stock it. But then I saw half a fresh pineapple for $2.50, so I grabbed it, pleased that I had saved $4. Later, at my Asian-Owned Green Grocer, they were selling whole pineapples for 99c. The lesson is: look around first! Lesson learned.
I quite like fruits with a sour tang with chilli – green mango, pomelo, pineapple, for example. So our salad today is just that. You can of course just slice the fruit and dip it into salt and chilli, but today we make a chilli vinaigrette for the pineapple.
Similar recipes include
What about Chilli recipes? Try Tofu and Chilli Salad, Deeply Flavoured Chilli Jam, and Chilli and Coriander Lassi.
Please browse all of our Salad recipes though, we have a lot. Check out our Chilli recipes. Or take some time to explore our Mid Autumn dishes.
In India, on one trip, a travelling companion remarked that India did not have dishes of fresh vegetables and greens, like salads and simply cooked vegetables. It was a surprising statement from a person who was not unused to India, but it does show that the most commonly publicised dishes are not the fresh, uncooked or quickly cooked dishes. I may have been more fortunate that that person, eating in the homes of friends in India and spending time in their kitchens. Salads are eaten all over India – they are different to Western tossed or composed salads, but they are fresh and beautiful.
An Indian salad will contain raw or briefly cooked vegetables, fruits, sprouted lentils, and spices. They can also contain grains such as puffed rice or poha (flattened rice). Cooked lentils and beans can be briefly stir fried with spices, coconut and herbs. Vegetables and fruits can be stirred into yoghurt and dressed with sautéed spices.
Salad dressings are not used per se, but flavours are balanced with spices and coconut. When fruits are used, or vegetables like cucumber and jicama, it can be simply spiced by mixing with chaat masala, black pepper and some lime juice.
So today, a salad of fruits with spices and peanuts. It is gorgeous, spicy and with a tang of mustard. I came across the recipe somewhere some time ago, and make it when pineapples are sweet and mangoes are available. There are many different types of mangoes in India, pineapples too. Today, I have used a sweet, green mango, but others with firmer flesh and tarter flavour can also be used. It is a great salad to serve with fiery food, or as part of a Summer lunch outside under the gum trees.
Similar dishes include a Collection of Kosumalli Salads, Sprouts and Pomegranate Kosumalli, Hesarubela Koshambari, Hawaiian Chilli Pineapple Salad, Longan and Green Mango Salad, Pomelo and Green Mango Salad, Cucumber Pachadi, and Kachumber.
Also try Madhura Pachadi with Tamarind.
Browse all of our Indian Salads, and all of our Salads. Our Mango dishes are here, and our Pineapple dishes are here. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Or explore our Mid Summer dishes.
