Peerkangai (Ridge Gourd) Chutney
A mouth watering and healthy chutney made with ridge gourd, red chilies, urad dal, coconut and other spices.
Ingredients
For sauteeing
- 1 Ridge Gourd chopped
- 3 Red chilies
- 3 tbsp Urad dal
- 1 Onion chopped
- 1 Tomato chopped
- 4 tbsp Coconut grated
- 1/4 inch Ginger chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic optional
- 1 tbsp Tamarind juice
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Sesame oil
For tadka
- 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds
- 1/2 tbsp Urad dal
- 2 Red chilies
- 2 sprig Curry leaves
- Hing
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
Instructions
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Wash and clean one tender ridge gourd. Using a vegetable peeler, just peel a little bit of the ridges. There is a thick nerve (or fiber) that runs along the ridges and it can be prominent if the ridge gourd is not that tender but remove it anyway. Cut into small cubes.
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Take a wide pan, pour sesame oil, when it is hot, fry the red chilies, followed by the urad dal till it is browned and gives out a nice aroma.
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Add onion, salt (adding salt with onion accelerates the sauteeing process), fry for few minutes, add tomato, sauté well, then add the ridge gourd pieces and saute them well too by frying for about 5 mins or so, followed by grated coconut and ginger pieces. After adding coconut and ginger, just sauté for couple of mins, that is enough.
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Add tamarind juice, mix well, adjust salt level if needed and switch off the flame and let it cool for about 10 mins and then grind this in a mixie to a slightly coarse consistency.
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Finish it off with tadka (mustard, red chilies, urad dal, curry leaves, hing).
Recipe Notes
- You can also do lazy tadka for this chutney (technique learned from my wife): just do the tadka in the beginning followed by the sautéing and grind it with the chutney. No need to repeat the tadka at the end. Lazy tadka saves time when you are in a hurry. It not only saves time, as the tadka ingredients are ground (including mustard), it gives a nice taste to the chutney. I add lots of curry leaves whenever I do lazy tadka and because we grind the tadka, all curry leaves are eaten rather than being thrown away (added health benefit).
- Urad dal and coconut give body to this chutney.
- You can also add garlic (optional).