Ash gourd (White pumpkin / Kuvvale / Pusinikkai) Mor Kuzhambu

Ash gourd (White pumpkin /Kuvvale / Pusinikkai) Mor Kuzhambu

A delicious main curry in Tamil cuisine, goes well with rice. Basic recipe from Aharam by Sabitha Radhakrishna.

Serves: 3 – 4

Ingredients

For ash gourd:

200 g ash gourd, peel off the skin and cut into cubes

½ teaspoon thick tamarind paste or 3 tablespoon tamarind juice

1 cup (175 - 200 ml) water

½ teaspoon salt

1 green chilli, slit lengthwise

Method

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Cover with a lid and boil on a medium to low heat for 10 – 12 minutes until done and water almost dries up / pumpkin pieces well cooked.

For curd:

200 ml medium thick curd

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Beat curd till smooth with the help of a blender or Tupperware quick shaker. Make curd mixture into a smooth consistency.

For coconut paste:

75 g grated coconut (5 – 6 tablespoons)

3 green chillies

½ - inch piece ginger

1 tablespoon fried gram dal (Bengal gram dal)

½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

2 tablespoon water

Make a smooth paste of above ingredients with 2 tablespoon water. Paste should be thick in consistency.

Method

In a bowl, mix coconut paste and blended curd together (stir continuously).

For seasoning:

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon urad dal

A pinch asafoetida (hing / kaayam)

6 curry leaves

1 red chilli (broken in two)

Method

Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add urad dal, hing, curry leaves and broken red chilli. Saute for 2 – 4 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Add curd – coconut mixture. When the curry starts foaming, and when the first bubble appear, switch off the heat. Serve with plain rice.