“Hubby dear always pokes fun at me that half da years of my marriage were spent cooking in da kitchen. No exaggeration but may be he is true. I adore cooking. Inspite of all that boasting, lately I’ve been going thru this “Stay away from kitchen” phase. I think It might be a seasonal  thing for all of us not wanting to spend hours in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. That’s what has been happening over the last few days at home. Some day its just a pizza delivered at da door step and da other day a frozen food ready to eat. Whatever it may be I’m just having my own happy time not going into da kitchen right now. But just so I do not starve hubby dear out, I decided 2 fix up something fast & made beerakaya pachadi. I love da mild sweet taste of this vegetable always. Loads of fibre, low in saturated fat & cholesterol above all a tasty and easy dish to whip up. Eat it with steamed rice & a dollop of ghee accompanied by a stir fry or papad & that’s what I call “Match made in heaven”Here’s how we cook it….

Ingredients:

2 beerakaya/ridge gourds (about 3 cups) - Wash and cut into bite sized pieces along with skin

2 tbsps cooking oil

1 tbsp minapappu (split urad dal)

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

5 dried red chillies (adjust)

1 tsp dhaniyalu (coriander seeds)

1 tbsp nuvvulu (sesame seeds) - roasted on low flame till golden brown and set aside

Salt to taste

1 small lime sized tamarind

For tempering/tadka/popu:

1 tsp minapappu (split urad dal)

½  tsp avalu (mustard seeds)

½ tsp jeera (cumin seeds)

8 to 10 curry leaves

pinch of inguva (hing/asafoetida)

1 tsp cooking oil

PROCEDURE:

  • In a vessel, heat 1 tbsps of cooking oil. On low flame fry minapappu till the dal turns light gold/red in color. Add jeera, dried red chillies, dhaniyalu and fry for a few seconds (about 30 secs). Turn off the flame and set aside to cool.
  • Meanwhile in another vessel, heat 1 tbsp of oil and throw in the chopped beerakaya pieces and cook on medium flame for 8-10 mts or till the rawness of the vegetable goes away. Turn off the flame and allow to cool.
  • Once cool, grind the dals fried in step one along with roasted sesame seeds till coarsely ground. Then add the cooked ridgegourd pieces, salt and tamarind and grind.
  • For the tempering, heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan. Add minapappu and let it turn golden brown. Throw in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let them splutter. Add curry leaves, hing and saute a few seconds. Pour the tempering on the ground pachadi.
  • Serve hot with steamed rice and a stir fry of your choice or fried papads.

Note Note:  For a variation, add about 3 tbsps of freshly chopped coriander leaves at the end (after the ridge gourd pieces are cooked), mix well. Turn off the flame and allow to cool before grinding. This gives a herby flavour to the pachadi and tastes as delicious as the original version.

Tags: Beerakaya pachhadi, ridge gourd,veg-recipe