Thursday, November 24, 2011

Ridge Gourd (Beerakaya) Chutney

We belonged to the generation that did not grow up on fast foods. And when we went visiting friends, we looked forward to wholesome home-cooked foods.  At my friend Divi's place, we absolutely loved the Beerakaya Chutney that her mom would make for us.  She shared the recipe with us and it tasted almost as good as what we used to have

                   (PS - Don't click on image to enlarge- the seasoning looks scary! - I had not mixed it)
Ingredients:
Beerakaya - this can be made with the skin of the vegetable only.  But I used the whole vegetable along with some of the skin. Wash it well remove the protruding ridges, lightly scrape the upper surface, remove the two ends. Taste ( I think it is necessary, not too sure) if it is bitter. If yes, discard. Slice the vegetable in the centre lenghtwise and remove the seeds. Cut into medium sized pieces.

Beerakaya - 2 large - must be around 1/2 kg
2-3 green chilies - depending on the pungency
1 small onion - sliced ( optional)
Fresh coconut - this is optional too - I used maybe 25 gms
Tamarind - lime sized ( soak ) or about 1 tbsp of readymade paste
Sugar or jaggery - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - approx 4 tbsp including the amount for seasoning

For dry powder
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp, Coriander seeds (dhaniya) - 1 tbsp, Fenugreek seeds (methi) - few
Dry roast and make a fine powder.

Seasoning
Mustard, red chilies, jeera, curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan.
Fry the sliced onion for a few minutes
Add the green chilies and the ridge gourd pieces
Fry until it softens
Add the tamarind along with the water
Cook till the skin of the ridge gourd is softened
Allow the mix to cool
Blend the cooked vegetable, dry powder, coconut, jaggery, salt till smooth

Season and add.
You can also add some finely minced onion.

YUM!

2 comments:

  1. delicious chutney to go with plai rice and ghee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is an interesting variation on the Mysore-style ridge gourd chutney which contains no onion, jeera or coriander powder. Instead ridge gourd (usually the skin only) is fried in a little oil with urad dal, red or green chillies and hing till soft, and ground with coconut, salt and tamarind. Oh, I love it...and I must try your recipe!

    ReplyDelete

Some time to spare? Do leave a comment. Thanks.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails