Kumbalanga Pulissery

Kumbalanga  Pulissery - A delicious main curry in Kerala  cuisine, goes well with rice. Basic recipe from  ‘The Essential Kerala Cookbook by Vijayan Kannampilly”. Cookery book available at various online stores and other leading bookshops !!

Serves: 3 – 4

Ingredients

For moru (butter milk):

100 ml medium thick curd

100 ml water

½ teaspoon salt

Beat curd, water and salt till smooth with the help of a blender or Tupperware quick shaker. Make curd mixture into a smooth consistency (without any lumps). Cover and keep aside.

For  the coconut paste:

Ingredients

5  tablespoons grated coconut

1 tablespoon raw  rice (pachari / soorai orovu), wash and soak it in water for 1 hour (this step is very important)

1 green chilli, chopped (1 big size or 2 small size)

½ teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)

2 tablespoon water

Method

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

For  the Kumbalanga / ash gourd:

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

1 cup (175 - 200 ml) water

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 small size green chilli, slit lengthwise

Method

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

At this stage, add coconut paste. Mix well. Cover with a lid and cook again on a low heat for another 5 minutes. No need to boil more time. Switch off the heat. Finally add butter milk and mix well. Please do not heat it again.

For the  seasoning:

2 teaspoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¼ teaspoon methi seeds (uluva / fenugreek seeds)

4 curry leaves

Method

Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add methi and curry leaves. Saute for 1 -2 minutes until fragrant and crisp. Pour this seasoning over pulissery. Serve with rice and other accompaniments (like potato fry, pickle, cabbage thoran, fish fry …) ...