Few months ago, I wrote about my mother’s recipe of bottle gourd. It is a standard, no fuss kind of recipe with minimum ingredients. I like the taste of that curry and played around with the recipe little bit and came up with this one. It is also a simple no-nonsense recipe and supplies carbos (bottle gourd), protein (black chana) and fat (sesame seeds). I love the taste and also the ease with which it can be prepared.
Bottle Gourd (Sorakaya, Dudhi) – Peeled, Cut into Cubes
Recipe:
Prep Work:
One cup of black chickpeas (kala chana) soaked in water overnight.
Half of medium-sized bottle gourd (sora kaya, dudhi), peeled and cut into half-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
Cook:
Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil. Toast a teaspoon of cumin, mustard seeds and curry leaves (for tadka).
Add the bottle gourd pieces and soaked kala chana. Saut? for few minutes on medium heat. Add about a cup of water and close the lid and cook.
Sesame–Dalia paste:
Meanwhile prepare the curry thickener. Grind in a blender:
3 tablespoons of each – sesame seeds and dalia
½ tablespoon of each – tamarind juice and powdered jaggery
1 teaspoon of each – coriander seeds (dhania), cumin and red chilli powder
½ teaspoon of salt or to taste
Grind them to smooth paste by adding about one cup of water.
Simmer:
Add the sesame-dalia paste to the curry. Stir in half teaspoon of turmeric. Mix and on medium heat, simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the curry reaches the consistency you desire.
Tastes great with chapatis/naans and with sorghum rotis.
Bottle gourd curry with chapatis
Hi, Indira!
Great, yummy recipe, the day never ends without browsing your recipes for me. Good work, keep it up…
Padma Prakash,
Ocala, FL
Comment by Padma Prakash — July 18, 2006 @ 8:15 pm
He he heee first one to comment again !!!! You must be thinking I just dont do any work at office..
I really loved your recipe for two things.. I am able to almost see the taste of this dish.. Its simple and yet a totally different way to cook this ever so common bottlegourd.
Cool one 🙂
Comment by Revathi — July 18, 2006 @ 7:57 pm
Hi Indira,
Nice combination of gourd-chickpea and dalia-seasame. I have chayote squash will give it a try soon. Thanks.
Comment by Madhu — July 18, 2006 @ 8:08 pm
Yay 🙂
Blog browsing breaks are like tea/coffee break at work.:) Employess need them to survive at office, if you ask me.:)
They curry does taste superb. If you try, let me know how you like it. Thanks Revathi!
Thanks Madhu. Cooking with chayote squash… that could be a nice combination.
aah… thanks Padma!
Comment by Indira — July 18, 2006 @ 8:17 pm
Hi Indira,
I tried your bell pepper chutney, was very tasty but i never go that loveley color as urs in the pic, mine was reddish.
I also tried your Nimona. Thats one awesome recipe. Its lot of work but definetely worth it. I bought some mangodi’s from a local indian store and used that instead of potatoes. HEAVENLY !!!!
As revathi said i love this curry for its simplicity. I usually use dalia for sauce, this is definetely my kinda curry 🙂 Shall try it soon and let u know.
Comment by Priya — July 18, 2006 @ 10:24 pm
I was thinking about you Tuesday; we were on our way back to Tennessee by way of I-80, to Youngstown where we got on 79. I said to Matt, ‘if we’d planned ahead of time, we could have stopped in for a visit with Indira!’.
Oh, well…maybe another time?!!
Comment by Stephanie — July 18, 2006 @ 11:54 pm
gr8t recipe..i was wondering what different recipe can i try with bottle gourd.will try it today!!
Comment by madhuli — July 19, 2006 @ 5:38 am
I was wondering what to cook with the bottle gourd that’s lying down in my fridge for the last few days. Here I go, Thanks indira for this wonderful dish.
Comment by sowjanya — July 19, 2006 @ 5:42 am
This is a lovely recipe. Have never tried bottle gourd with chana.
Comment by Krithika — July 19, 2006 @ 8:40 am
Indira,
Dont you have to cook the kala chana before adding it to the gourd,since gourd cooks so fast?
Comment by L.G — July 19, 2006 @ 9:56 am
Indira, your veggie recipes are all nutritious and good looking! I wish I could try all of your recipes.
Comment by RP — July 19, 2006 @ 12:38 pm
Priya: I am glad to hear that you tried and liked those two recipes. I have yet try the nimona with mangodies.:)
Thanks.
Stephanie: Our house is not that far from I-80 exit. Oh… we really missed an opportunity to meet. Next time, for sure. Vijay and I, we both like to meet you guys!
Thanks Madhuli, Sowjanya and Krithika. If you try, let me know how you like this recipe. thanks.
LG : I added the kala chana at the beginning of the curry and also I have soaked them overnight in water. The total cooking time for this curry is about 20 to 25 minutes, sufficient time for kala chana to cook tender. I normally don’t pressure or precook kala chana/chana/dried peas and usually directly add them to the curries. They cook perfectly tender. Give it a try, LG.
Thanks RP.
Comment by Indira — July 19, 2006 @ 3:05 pm
Hi Indira,
I came across this site just recently and since then have been glued to it.I like all your recipes.I just have a single question.Where in USA do you get the sesame seeds the way we get in andhra??Whenever i tried making chutney using the seeds from the indian grocery stores here,it somehow tastes bitter.Could you please help me out with this??
Comment by Aparna — August 20, 2006 @ 9:48 am
I like this site very much.
Comment by avani — January 8, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
well, I’ve just made this recipe but without chickpea ( hubby is not a great fan). We haven’t eat it yet but it smells really good and by tasting while cooking, it sounds yummy so… thank you for this recipe!
Comment by Noro — September 27, 2007 @ 12:55 pm