Also, luckily I had the ingredients for today's curry already in the fridge and that's what we had a cozy lunch today. I watched this recipe on a Telugu cooking show recently and noted it down to try.It's a simple curry with bottle gourd/ lauki and spicy ground coconut paste. Once you have the paste paste ready, the curry takes a few minutes to cook. I usually par cook my bottle gourd in the microwave to expedite the cooking process. The curry tastes great with some rice or even roti.
Ingredients: Sorakaya/ Bottle Gourd - 2cups, peeled and chopped Turmeric - ¼tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Green Chilies - 1~2 (optional)
Curry leaves - 8~10
Salt - to taste
For the Coconut Paste:
Grated Coconut - ½cup
Dry Red Chilies - 3~4 (adjust as per taste preference)
Tamarind paste - 1tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Method:
- Make the coconut paste: Grind the ingredients for the paste using little water. Keep aside.
- Make the Curry: Heat 1tbsp oil in a saute pan, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once the seeds start to splutter, add curry leaves and green chilies (if using). Cook for 1 minute.
- Next add the bottle gourd pieces, turmeric and salt. Mix well, cover and cook till bottle gourd is tender, about 10~12 minutes. Alternately bottle gourd can be par cooked in the microwave for 4~5 minutes and then added here and cooked for 4~5 minutes more.
- Finally add the ground coconut paste, mix well and cook for another 2~3 minutes. Add more water if the curry looks too dry. Serve with steamed rice and dal.
Linking this to Valli's 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge: March -- Week 1'.
