Ridge Gourd Dill and Chana Daal Dry Fry (Beerakaya Fry)

Sometime last week, I was cleaning up the fridge closely inspecting the occupants there, when I noticed that the ridge gourd and Dill were the ones demanding immediate attention. When I bough the Ridge Gourd from the grocery I was planning on making these delicious bhajjis, but never got around making them.

So the other option for me was to make a quick curry from the Ridge Gourd. Now cooked Ridge Gourd by itself has a sweet taste to it and when paired with onions becomes even more sweeter. At home we are not fond of this taste, so I thought why not add the dill to ridge gourd and make a dry curry? Addition of dill and Chana Daal definitely off -sets that sweet taste and imparts its own flavor.

The idea for this curry came up on a need basis but we really liked the taste. Needless to say, this is a very easy and nutritious side dish that can be prepared in a jiffy.

Ridge Gourd is called as Turai or Tori in Hindi, Jhinga in Bengali, Beera kaya in Telugu, Heeray kayi in Kannada, peechinga in Malayalam, Dodaka or Ghosavala in Marathi, Peerkankaai in Tamil and Ghosale in Konkani.
Please note that Ridge Gourd is different from Bottle Gourd (Lauki)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium ridge gourd (skin peeled and cut into cubes) (Heerekaayi in Kannada)
• 1 cup of pressed dill chopped finely(thick stems removed) /Sowa/(Shepu in Marathi)/ sabsige sappu in Kannada
• 1/2 cup Bengal Gram Daal/ chana daal (soak it over night)
• 3-4 green chillies slit
• 2/3 cup chopped onions
• Oil
• Salt
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Turmeric
• Shredded coconut (optional)

Method:

• Pressure cook/ or cook the Chana Daal on stove top in sufficient amount of water. Make sure that the lentil is cooked and has a bite left to it.
• Take a heavy bottom pan/kadhai add oil and then splutter the mustard seeds, add cumin seeds.
• Add onions and green chillies. Mix it a bit. Add the cubed ridge gourd, salt and mix well. Add little more oil if necessary.
• When the ridge gourd and onion is almost done, add turmeric, cooked chana daal and cut dill leaves. Mix well and cover with a lid.
• Stir in intervals and finally add some shredded coconut(optinal)
• Note: Too much of dill can impart a bitter taste, so proceed with caution!

This goes well with Rotis/Chapatis and as a side dish with Rice.