Ridge Gourd Curry

Ridge Gourd / Peerkangai can be cooked in many ways, just as a simple poriyal, or with dal. This is one of the version which my mom makes and we used to love this. This curry can be used as a side dish for any rice, or can be mixed with steamed rice and it used to taste awesome...

Another important thing before you start cooking peerkangai is, checking for its taste. We used to cut the edges(which we remove... and of course by licking it ;) ) and taste it to check whether it is good or has bitter taste. And removing the skin properly also very important, because it will be hard and will not cook with the soft inside portion. And sometimes, the skin will give a bitter taste while cooking.

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd - 1 (about 1 and 1/4 cups(chopped) tightly packed)
shallots/ chinna vengayam - 6-7 nos (slice them) (do not add more as it gives the sweetened taste)
tomato - 2 table spoon finely chopped
Chili powder - 1/2 tea spoon (adjust according to your taste, mine is medium spice level)
Coriander powder - 1/2 tea spoon
turmeric powder - a pinch
salt - as per taste
oil- 2 tea spoons
mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
urad dal - 1 tea spoon
curry leaves - few

Preparation:

1. In a kadai / pan heat two tea spoons of oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves one by one.
2.Then add the sliced shallots and saute well
3. When they turn transparent, Add the finely chopped tomato and saute well.
4. Then add the chopped veg to it and saute for a minute or two.
5.Then add, chili power, coriander powder turmeric  and  salt, with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and mix well.
6.cook until the veg is cooked nicely and you reach the desired consistency.

serve hot with steamed rice or as side dish for sambar or rasam

Linking this recipe to

Viji's SYS-W series Hidden Ingredients.

Pari's 'Only' event hosted by Priya

South Indian cooking hosted by Nandoos Kitchen and organized by Anu

dish-it-out- Side Dishes hosted by Sathya Priya, organized by vardhini@ cooks joy  

WTML hosted by Gayathri