Bottle Gourd and Moong Dal

Bottle gourd would feature in my list of "always eaten-never made" vegetables. About three years ago, I was spending my first summer in Hyderabad and suffered a mild heatstroke. The doctor who treated me told me to eat a lot of gourds in summer as they were good for health. I came home and called Amma to ask about this dish because I liked it a lot.

This dish isn't usually as watery as this, but since I was serving it with jeera rice, I made it a little watery.

Ingredients:

1 meduim sized Bottle Gourd, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup Moong Dal, washed

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Green Chilli paste

1/2 tsp Ginger paste

7-8 Curry Leaves

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/4 tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves, ginger and chilli pastes and fry for a minute. Add the dal and saute for another minute before adding the turmeric and chilli powders. Add the bottle gourd pieces and salt. Add 1-1.5 cups of water and cover and cook for 1-2 whistles. Garnish with coriander leaves if you like.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.