Hi Everyone!! I thought, this time I would share a simple vegetable curry with Ridge Gourd/Courgette, that is delicious as side dish with rice or rotis (flatbread). If u think, ridge gourd curry is boring, give this recipe a try and I am sure you will find yourself making this again and again. My mom often combines ridge gourd with lentil (dal) to increase the taste and texture of the curry. I added Achari Masala to the curry, which gave it nice spicy and tangy kick like Indian pickles. I already posted a recipe of Achari Masala spice blend long back. You can use that spice blend directly to the curry. But, if you do not have the spice blend on hand ready like me, you can just follow this recipe. You can use the same recipe with other similar vegetables like pumpkin (kaddu), opo-sqaush (lauki). So do try this recipe and let me know how you liked it.

Achari Turai aur Chana Dal Curry (Spicy, Tangy Curry with Ridge Gourd/Courgette and Yellow Split Peas)

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

Ridge Gourd (Turai): 3 cups, peeled and chopped to 1/4 ” thickness (I used 4 large ridge gourds)

Yellow Split Pea (Chana Dal): 1/2 cup, soaked for 10 mins (if u like more use up to 3/4th cup)

Onions: 1 medium size, chopped finely

Tomatoes: 2  medium size, chopped finely

Green Chilies: 3, chopped finely

Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tsp (Or use 1″ ginger and 5 cloves of garlic chopped finely)

Kashmiri Red Chili Powder: 1 tbsp (Or use normal 1 tsp red chili powder)

Turmeric: 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida (Hing): 1/4 tsp

Dry Mango Powder (Amchoor): 1 tsp (Or use juice of half a lemon)

Salt: 1.5 tbsp (As required)

Coriander/Cilantro leaves: 2 tbsp, chopped finely

Oil: 2 tbsp

Spice Blend:

Mustard seeds (Rai): 1 tbsp

Fennel seeds (Saunf): 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds (Jeera): 1 tsp

Coriander seeds (Dhaniya): 1 tsp

Nigella seeds (Kalonji): 1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds (methi): 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients listed in “Spice Blend” section on low flame until fragrant. Blend to fine powder and set aside.
2. In another sauce pan, boil yellow spit peas/chana dal with a cup of water until tender. Takes 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, To make curry, heat oil in a non-stick pan and add asafoetida. Then add onions and saute them until translucent. Takes 4 minutes.
4. Add green chilies and ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes off. Takes 1 minute.
5. Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and cook for 5 minutes covered with a lid on medium heat until tomatoes turn pulpy and leaves oil.
6. Add chopped turai/ridge gourd and mix well. Cover cook for 10 minutes, stirring in between ocassionally. This vegetable cooks in its own water when cover cooked on medium flame. So do not add any water and do not forget to put the lid on.
7. Add cooked chana dal, aamchoor powder and spice blend powder. Give it a good mix and adjust the seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes without the lid until desired thickness of the gravy. Switch off the flame.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis(flatbread) or rice.

 

Notes:

1. If you have Achari Masala spice powder, add 2 tbsp of it to curry without adding any more spices mentioned in the recipe. Just salt would be suffice then.