Thursday, October 28, 2010

Kumbalanga Cherupayar parippu Curry / Ash gourd & Moong dal Curry



Here's another signature dish from God's own country!

As the name says this is a curry made with Kumbalanga/ash gourd and cherupayar parippu / moong dal in Kerala, a mildly spiced comfort dish I make often with phulkas or plain rice that serves fine at any time of the day!

The simple intro part is over ;)

errr..

...and can I proceed to the recipe directly? ;)

(whew !! it relieves me quite a lot when I do this coz I get much hooked with words and nothing flows in lately)

Get ready with:

Ash gourd- diced- 1 large cup
Moong dal - dry roasted - 1/4 cup
Small onions- finely chopped- 1 tsp

To Grind:
Freshly grated coconut- 1 1/2 tbsps
Garlic- 1 clove
Jeera powder-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp scant

To season:
Coconut oil- 2 tsps
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Small onions- minced- 2 tsps
Green chilly-1- sliced lengthwise
Red chilly-1- broken into 3 pcs(optional)
Curry leaves- a sprig


A 3 ltr pressure cooker- ;)

How to make :

Transfer the lightly dry roasted moong dal to the cooker, give it a quick rinse, add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame to simmer and cook in open without the lid on) for 2-3 minutes keeping an eye not to let it boil over.

In the meanwhile grind coconut, garlic, jeera and turmeric powders to a smooth paste adding a little water.Stir in to the cooking dal along with the ash gourd pieces and the sliced green chilly and 1 tsp of finely cut onions. Add salt and mix well. The liquid part should NOT be more than 1/2- 3/4 cup at this stage as ash gourd lets out water while cooking. Close the lid and cook till 2-3 whistles.

Open, after the steam vents off. If the curry seems to be a little watery, add a tsp of rice powder or corn starch and bring to a gentle boil. Even otherwise the curry tends to thicken after cooling down a bit!
For the seasoning, heat oil in a kadai, splutter the mustard seeds and next the minced onions. Let the onions get fried to a brown hue and impart the aroma. Throw in the red chilly bits followed by the curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over the curry.

Serve warm with phulkas or steamed rice.


If you find it difficult to get the ash gourd, substitute it with lemon cucumber or vellarikka (malayalam) for a closest taste.This recipe is off to The Kerala Kitchen.

16 comments:

  1. This is one of my favourite curry, love it, when mom made i think i ate a lot of rice with this curry. Drool.

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  2. looks really yummy.....Lovely color of the gravy..

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  3. Delicious curry...loved it..never tried adding any dhal to ash gourd..

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  4. Hi Bharathy,

    I had to insert tags cos of the changes i made in my blog layout...:)Did it myself!!Curry looks delish...:)

    Dr.Sameena@

    www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

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  5. Garlic with coconut sure gonna give great flavor!Coconut oil tadka!!wow my favorite :)

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  6. I love the dal,veg and coconut paste combo.Planning to make something similar to this using padavalanga[wooh] for Ajay as he is quite fond of it.

    Btw..love your new header..awesome!!

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  7. i will try this too! i tried your vazhakka poriyal and liked it a lot!

    bharathy olan recipe podunga plz..

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  8. I never cooked ash gourd before.... All I eat of ash gourd is vadiams. Your curry cooks great!

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  9. Can have this curry with lemon pickles and hot steaming rice..looks absolutely comforting..

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  10. Never had dal and kumbalanga combo...looks delicious...will try it....

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  11. A delicious curry, perfect with rice. Yumm!

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  12. Hi shoba,
    Love to read ur recipes accompanied by attractive pics. This kinda a dal is new to me and would def. want to make it with different kinds of veggies.
    Thanks,
    Wishing u and ur family and bright and beautiful Diwali!!
    Happiness and wellness!
    TC

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