Slow Cooker Watermelon Rind Relish (Puli Pachadi)

Watermelon rinds being watery and edible and mild, it is used in quite a few Indian dishes. With its texture and taste bland enough like Ash gourd or Opo Squash or Chayote squash, it lends itself well to spicy dishes.

Puli Pachadi is a thick south Indian concoction made with tamarind, jaggery, ginger, and chilies; with or without the addition of grated coconut. One such concoction is Puli Inji (Tamarind Ginger) which is one of my favorites, the way my mom makes it.

Borrowing the idea of Puli Inji, I added watermelon rinds - just the white portions that kids discard usually. Most of the work is done by the slow cooker. The labor-intensive part is to salvage the rinds and cut even chunks out of them for this recipe.

Add the water melon rinds to the slow cooker along with enough of tamarind paste, grape molasses, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, Thai red chilies, whole black pepper, and salt to taste. Slow cook on low for about 5 hours till the liquids congeal and thicken to ooze concentrated flavor.