Orange-Peel Pachidi

My great-grandmothers were truly thrifty. They always found some use for everything. Rather than discard the peels of oranges, they innovated and concocted a spicy pachidi (sauce) with the tangy and bitter flavors of the orange rind.

Although I have heard of this sauce all my life, I would have never been brave enough to venture into making this sauce on my own. There have been many times when my family has religiously saved orange peels only to forget about the sauce and eventually discard them. Actually, if you do forget to use the orange peels within a couple of days, you can still dry the peels in the sun and make a powder of it to use in facial treatments. 

But my in-laws were prompt in using the peels to prepare the unique sauce. Orange rind/peel is a little bitter, but we found that clementine peels (clementine is another variety of orange) are sweeter and less bitter. So that's what we used. 

Ingredients:

1. 3-4 clementine peels, finely diced into little pieces (clementines are smaller than oranges). Use the peels within two days of storing them in an air-tight container in the fridge.
2. One inch ball of tamarind
3. 2 green chillies, finely cut
4. One inch block of ginger, finely minced
5. 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
6. 1 teaspoon split urad dhal 
7. 1/8 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
8. 1 teaspoon turmeric
9. 1 teaspoon salt (or as per taste)
10. 1 teaspoon jaggery / brown sugar
11. 1 teaspoon rice flour
12. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil / olive oil

Preparation:

1. Soak the tamarind in a cup of hot water for 15-20 minutes. Squeeze the soft tamarind pulp to extract as much juice as possible. Drain the tamarind extract (through a sieve) and discard the pulp. 
2. Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Add split urad dhal, minced ginger, green chillies, asafoetida, and the diced peels. Fry for 10 minutes on medium heat. 
3. Add the tamarind extract, turmeric, and salt to the above orange-peel and spices. Add a cup of water to dilute and let the mixture come to a couple of boils on medium heat. Boil the mixture until the orange-peels cook. 
4. Now add the jaggery/brown sugar to round and balance the tangy and bitter flavors. Mix well and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Finally, thicken the sauce by diluting the rice powder in 1/2 tablespoon of water (or slightly more if needed) and pour it to the pachidi. Whisk well and let the sauce simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. 

Remove from heat and serve as a side-dish to rice or rotis. The sauce is sweet and sour, with a hint of bitterness. It particularly goes well with yogurt rice.