Friday 18 October 2013

Ridge Gourd/Peerkangai/Hirekayi Poricha Kootu

Kootu Varieties is one of my favourite south indian cuisine with hot rice...There are varities of kootus like this one I am posting here today..it is 'poricha' kootu...simply to mean that the spices added to this gravy is fried in little oil and ground with coconut..there are also varieties like milagu or pepper kootu, puli or tamarind kootu or pachai or hasi kootu(spices are ground with coconut without frying)...so on.
I will be posting each and every one of the variety whenever I get the opportunity with different vegetables and green leaf vegetables.

Ingredients:
Ridge gourd - 1 large sized,
Peanuts - 1/4 cup,
Moong Dal - 1 cup,
Salt,
Jaggery - 1 teaspoon,
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon.

To Roast and Grind:
Oil - 2 teaspoons
Urad Dal - 2 teaspoons,
Coriander seeds - 1/2 teaspoon,
Red Chillies - 2,
Pepper Corns - 1 teaspoon,
Raw Rice - 1 teaspoon,
Asafoetida - a fat pinch,
Coconut - 1/2 cup.

For Tempering:
Oil - 1 teaspoon,
Mustard - 1 teaspoon,
Asafoetida - a pinch,
Urad Dal - 1 teaspoon,
Curry leaves - 12-15.



Method:
Pressure cook moong dal and peanuts with turmeric with enough water for 1-2 whistles.
Once the pressure comes down, open the lid and lightly mash the dal.
Peel skin of the ridge gourd and cut into two inch cubes.
Cook ridge gourd in, as little as water possible, with little salt, until just done and keep aside.
Do not throw away the ridge gourd water, you can use later to adjust the consistency or to grind the spices.
And also if the peel or skin of the ridge gourd is fresh you can use to make chutney.
Click here for the recipe.
Roast the ingredients under roasting and grinding table, with oil(except coconut), until the urad dal is browned. Add coconut and fry for few seconds. Remove from heat. Cool it and grind  to smooth paste with water.
Now bring the cooked ridge gourd,ground paste, salt and jaggery to boil.
Boil for 2 minutes and add cooked dal and adjust the consistency.
If the consistency is too thick add little water and allow to boil only for a minute.
Remove from heat.
Temper with ingredients under tempering table.
Serve with rice or chapathi.
It even goes well with curd rice.

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