Ridge Gourd Chutney Recipe
Shwetha Bhat is passionate about food and cooking. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and share her recipes.
Ridge gourd chutney
Ridge Gourd Chutney
Ridge gourd is called heerekayi in Kannada, peerkangai in Tamil, turai in Hindi, and peechinga in Malayalam. Plenty of recipes can be made using ridge gourd. It's a rich source of antioxidants and dietary fiber, and it's low in calories, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
Chutneys are an integral part of most South Indian cuisines, and this particular chutney is one of the most common. A bit sweet, tangy, and spicy, it is easy to prepare but tastes heavenly.
There are many different ways to prepare this dish. This recipe is a South Indian version.
Cook Time
| Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
|---|---|---|---|
5 min | 10 min | 15 min | 1 cup (3 servings) |
Ingredients
- 1 cup ridge gourd, cubed
- 1 lemon-sized seedless tamarind, or to taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons oil
- 3 to 4 teaspoons urad dal
- 2 to 3 teaspoons chana dal or bengal gram
- 1 to 2 red chilies, or to taste
- 1 to 2 green chilies, or to taste
- Sprig of fresh curry leaves
- Pinch of hing or asafoetida
- 1/2 cup fresh coconut, grated (store-bought ok)
- 1/2 cup water, or as needed
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Wash and remove the hard skin of the ridge gourd. Chop the gourd into equal-sized cubes.
- In a pan, add cubed gourd and tamarind. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook over medium flame till the water cooks away and the gourd becomes soft.
- In a frying pan, heat oil. Add urad dal and chana dal.
- To this, add dry red chilies, green chili, hing, and curry leaves. Fry over low-to-medium flame till the dal turns golden brown in color and the curry leaves turn crisp. Let them cool down.
- In a mixer jar, add all ingredients (fried dal, curry leaves, chilies, grated coconut, and cooked ridge gourd).
- Add salt to taste.
- Grind to a smooth paste adding a small amount of water. Add more salt if required.
- Healthy and tasty ridge gourd chutney is ready to serve.
Photo Guide
Wash ridge gourd to remove all dirt.
Chop off the ends. Cut the gourd into equal-sized cubes.
Add the cubed gourd to a pot and add tamarind.
Add 1/4 cup of water to the pot. Cook over medium flame.
In a frying pan, heat 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil. Add urad dal.
Add chana dal.
Add broken red chilies, green chili, curry leaves, and hing. Fry over low flame till dal turns golden brown and curry leaves become crispy. Do not burn. Set aside to cool.
After the ridge gourd becomes soft, turn off the flame (it may take 4 to 5 minutes). Let it cool down.
Grate 1/2 cup of fresh coconut (or use store-bought).
In a mixer jar, add coconut.
Add fried dal.
Add cooked ridge gourd and salt as required.
Grind to a fine chutney, adding a small amount of water.
Serve hot with rice, idli, dosa, uttappam, or paddu. I served it with paddu.
More About the Recipe
- You can add other seasonings to this recipe.
- Rather than removing the skin of the ridge gourd, you can simply scrape off the veins.
- You can replace tamarind with tamarind paste.
- You can prepare ridge gourd peel chutney using the same procedure. Just replace the ridge gourd with the peel of the gourd.
- The number of chilies can be increased or decreased according to your desired spice level.