Chayote is commonly known as Chow Chow or bengalur kathrikai inTamil Nadu.

It belongs to the gourd family. It’s low in calories and is a very rich source of dietary fibre, B complex vitamins and minerals. Generally the flesh of the vegetable is only used for cooking. But the peel which is usually discarded has lot of nutritive value. 

Thogaiyal ( variety of chutney) made with this peel is a very traditional Tamil Brahmin dish and it’s one of my favourite too.

I made this after a very long time. It really came out very well and I enjoyed the thogaiyal with hot rice drizzled with sesame oil:)

Ingredients

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Chopped Chow chow peel – 1 cup

Grated coconut – 4 tbsps

Urad dal ( ullundhu/ black gram)- 3 tbsps

Red chillies – 5-6

Hing ( perungayam/ asafoetida)- a pinch

Tamarind – little (pea sized)

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

Method 

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Heat oil in a pan. Add urad dal and red chillies and sauté till the urad dal turns golden red. Remove from the pan and keep it aside.

Now add the chopped peel and sauté till it becomes little soft. Remove from the pan and let it cool.

Add the peel, coconut, red chillies and tamarind in a blender and grind to coarse paste.

Now add the urad dal, salt to taste and hing and grind till everything is blended well. Ensure that it does not become very smooth. The urad dal gives a very good crunch when ground coarsely.

Serve the thogaiyal with hot rice drizzled with little melted ghee or sesame oil. It can be served with hot rotis too. If you are someone like who likes to do weird things, you can use it as sandwich spread too:)