BOTTLE GOURD SAMBAR | Sorakkai Sambar

Bottle gourd is one veggie which is always available fresh in my local market and I try to include this humble squash atleast once a week in some form.  Normally I make kootu, poriyal or kurma…they also taste good if made as sambar. My in laws are from Pondicherry and I’ve seen them using coconut in all the sambar varieties…  they grind fresh coconut and add it to sambar which taste slightly different from the regular, my hubby likes it a lot and I make it a point to do once in while. Instead of adding freshly ground coconut i did my podi with dry desiccated coconut, which did taste similar and also the podi can be stored longer which is handy for me to use anytime. 🙂 Here is  our simple lunch today with Archa Sorakkai sambar with keerai masiyal and chips!

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Pressure cook tood dal with enough water and turmeric for up to 4 whistles and switch off. Once done mash well and keep aside. Wash and cut the bottlegourd, chop the head and tail portion slightly.

Peel the skin off- you may use the skin to make chutney or thuvaiyal or just discard. Cut into two and remove the spongy with seeds in the center and discard. Then chop into bite size pieces. (I have used only half of the bottlegourd to get 1/2 cup of chopped veggies)

Bottlegourd takes longer time to cook in a regular pan, so if you want to cut down on time, use a pressure cooker pan to start with! (I’ve used a regular pan and it took 25 minutes to slow cook the veggie) Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and dry red chili. Sprinkle asafoetida powder and then add onions, fry till slightly translucent with a pinch of salt.

Now add the chopped tomatoes and let cook for few minutes to make them soft. Followed by the chopped vegetable.

Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, salt and water. Bring the flame to low medium, cover with a tight lid and cook for 25 minutes. (You may use a pressure cooker and cook upto one whistle if you want to cut down on the time – Bottle gourd takes longer time to cook if its tough, so adjust time accordingly)

while that is cooking lets work on the sambar podi – Take fry pan and and dry roast all the ingredients from table-1 except the coconut. Fry till it browns a bit and release nice aroma. (Always do this over low flame to avoid burning) Once the all the spice & dal turn golden brown, switch off the flame and add the coconut flakes to the hot pan and fry them till lightly golden. (Dry desiccated coconut burns very fast, hence put off the flame and fry. The heat from the pan is sufficient to roast them)

Once done, cool them completely and grind to powder using a mixer jar and keep it ready.

By this time our veggies might have cooked perfect, you may sample one to see whether it has cooked through. Add cooked toor dal and mix.

Add tamarind extract, little jaggery and add about 1 teaspoon of the sambar powder and bring it to a boil. (The sambar podi that your yield with the above measure will be more, use one teaspoon and store the rest)

Add chopped coriander leaves and simmer for few minutes and switch off.

Notes

1. Serves 4-5 adults
2. Bottle gourd can be tough at times, remove all teh spongy stuff and seeds inside and cook thoroughly before adding the dal. Cooking in a pressure cooker will be perfect, if using a tender veggie then regular pan cook them under 20 minutes.
3. Adding jaggery is optional, gives nice balance to the heat and tanginess.
4. The above measure for sambar podi will yield more than 3 tablespoons of podi- use about 1 teaspoon. Add more if  you want  your sambar thick. Store the rest in an air-tight container for future use.
5. Use about 2 cups of water for 1/2 cup toor dal with a pinch of turmeric cook upto 4 whistles to make cooked dal.