Hubby Dearest works his magic & how ! The humble vegetable gets a hot make-over in his hands – draped in a variety of spices and finally sharing the lime-light with eggs, this dish was delightful in every sense.

I generally make a lentil based dish or a chutney/relish with the veggie, a few times the ridged beauty is stuffed with spices to make a dish similar to the stuffed eggplant. When I was planning something on that lines my hubby decided to don the apron & cook something different from what we usually make. In the mood for getting thoroughly indulged , I left the kitchen after making phulkas (Flat Indian Bread).The kitchen was soon buzzing with divine aroma enticing me to take a peek. After a good 30 minutes the dish was ready and the table set . It was a delicious meal !

Ridge Gourd/பீர்கங்காய்/तुरई has the botanical name of Luffa Aegyptiaca and is widely known as luffa/loofah/lufah. Not only is it eaten as green vegetable, the dried gourd is processed to remove all the insides except the fibres and is used as the body scrub/sponge. Yup the Loofahs that grace our bathrooms are from this vegetable.

This gourd is very much loved in India with various versions of the dish. A few recipes with the veggie will be making an appearance on my blog soon !

What goes :- (Serves 3)

Ridge Gourd – 500 gms (ridges peeled & cubed)
Eggs – 4 – boiled
Onion – 2 – chopped
Tomato – 4
Mustard & Fennel Seeds – 1 tbsp
Mix of Butter & Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – a few- rough chopped
Garlic – 4 to 5 pods – chopped
Ginger – a small piece – grated
Green Chillis – 2 to 3 – chopped – to taste
Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp – to taste
Sugar- 1/2 tsp – optional
Asafoetida – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – a few sprigs – finely chopped – for garnish

How:-

In a wok, add the butter & olive oil and after it warms let the mustard & fennel seeds splutter. To it add the onions & stir for a few minutes. Now dump all the ingredients on the plate (pic : above) except the coriander leaves and saute well till the raw smell evaporates. If the mix becomes dry, add little water & keep stirring it once in a while. Now add the spices to it- in goes the turmeric, red chilli & asafoetida. Mix well and let it cook for a while.

Add the chopped ridge gourd with required salt & let it cook for a while on a low heat. Sprinkle water only if required as the veggie gets mushy & starts leaving water on its own while being cooked. Add sugar if required to the gravy, it gives a contrast of flavours to the dish. Prick a few holes on the eggs with a toothpick or knife and add them to the gravy. This enables the eggs to absorb the flavours & retain them !Let the eggs simmer in the gravy till the dish attains the required consistency.

Check for seasoning & garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rotis or rice !

This goes to Ananda’s Culinary Smackdown Battle – Ridgegourd/Zucchini

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20 Comments

Nandinis food May 22, 2011 at 12:43 pm - Reply

Nice side dish! It looks so delicious and appetizing!
Vimitha Durai May 22, 2011 at 12:45 pm - Reply

Havent cooked with ridge gourd till date… Ur dish tempts me to… The platter looks so yum…
Suja Manoj May 22, 2011 at 2:19 pm - Reply

Wow wonderful side dish,sounds delicious..
Anonymous May 22, 2011 at 3:04 pm - Reply

A delightful curry ! Thanks for the great tip of poking the eggs to make them more tasty :-)
Padhu Sankar May 22, 2011 at 3:04 pm - Reply

What a unique combo.Looks nice
Suchitra Vaidyaram May 22, 2011 at 3:24 pm - Reply

lovely pics and great dish- Yum!
Priya Suresh May 22, 2011 at 4:48 pm - Reply

Wat a fabulous curry, never combined ridge gourd and eggs together,delicious!
Anonymous May 22, 2011 at 5:16 pm - Reply

Priya it does look delightful..Hooray for Hubby!
Nisha May 22, 2011 at 5:22 pm - Reply

That plate looks so tempting.
Jayanthy Kumaran May 22, 2011 at 6:45 pm - Reply

innovative combo…sounds delicious..
Tasty Appetite
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Menaga Sathia May 22, 2011 at 7:01 pm - Reply

super combo..looks very nice!!
Elaichii May 22, 2011 at 7:09 pm - Reply

Lucky you to have your spouse cook a curry in a jiffy!
AMMU MOHAN May 22, 2011 at 10:03 pm - Reply

very good combo…have to try this…..
Suman Singh May 22, 2011 at 10:37 pm - Reply

Thats a unique and delicious combo..thanks for the recipe!
Elisabeth May 23, 2011 at 12:30 am - Reply

Priya-This dish looks so inviting,so authentic…love the addition of the hard boiled eggs!
Unknown May 23, 2011 at 12:41 am - Reply

Priya
This is a unique vegetable and although not widely used in Kerala cuisine, I am looking for ways to use it…. now I can try out this recipe —it is tempting and makes me hungry:)
Sravs May 23, 2011 at 12:45 am - Reply

super yummy curry !! delicious combo !!
Torviewtoronto May 23, 2011 at 2:47 am - Reply

delicious looking curry lovely combination
Vardhini May 23, 2011 at 2:50 am - Reply

Nice combination and looks so yummy.

Vardhini
VardhinisKitchen
aipi May 23, 2011 at 2:51 am - Reply

An absolutely new combo ~ kudos to your hubby :)
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