Ridgegourd Peel Rice/Pulav flavored with Kasoori Methi and Celery

This is an other dish I made with ridgegourd peel.This dish too missed it's way to Nithu's Best Out of Waste Event as I could not post it on time.This is an other healthy way to enjoy the rich nutrients of the ridgegourd peel.Very simple to make , healthy and delicious too eat.

Let us see how this delicious Ridgegourd Peel Rice/Pulav is made------------

Main Ingredients :

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Raw Rice.......................................2cups(uncooked)

Tender RidgeGourd Peel................1cup(cleaned and chopped)

Celery............................................2sticks(cleaned and chopped)

Kasoori Methi................................1/4 cup

Seasoning Ingredients :

----------------------------

Canola Oil.....................................1.5tbsp

Ginger............................................1inch

Green Chilly...................................1

Garlic Cloves.................................4

Bay Leaf........................................2

Cardamom.....................................5

Cloves...........................................7

Turmeric........................................1/4tsp

MTR Pulav Masala Powder............1tsp

Lemon Juice...................................1tbsp

Salt................................................to taste

Garnish :

---------------

Cilantro.......................................few leaves

Preparation :

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Rinse the raw rice and cook it keep it aside for it to cool down a bit.Meanwhile take the cleaned ridgegourd peel and chop it.

In a mixie jar blend the chopped peel with ginger ,chilly and make a paste.

Now place a pan on the stove on medium high heat and add oil to it.Once the oil heats up add the bay leaf,cloves and cardamom to it and fry for a minute.

Now add the ground paste to the pan along with some turmeric and stir well and let it cook for 2minutes or just till rawness is gone.

Now add kasoori methi to the pan and fry the mix for 1 more minute.

Now add cleaned and chopped celery to the pan and cook for 1 more minute.

Now add little salt and paprika to the veggie mix and stir well.

Add 1 spoon of the pulav masala and the cooked rice to the pan and stir well till the rice blends in with the vegetable mix.Adjust salt as needed(we already added some to the above mix).

Switch off the stove and add the lemon juice and mix well.

Finally garnish the flavored rice with cilantro.

Delicious and healthy RidgeGourd Peel Rice/Pulav is ready to be served as is or with some raw toamato and onion or with yogurt or raita.

Note :

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1) This rice was very delicious for us but a little spicy for the kids.Next time I will avoid adding the green chilly.

2) A very quick and easy to make pulav/ rice dish.You can make it for a get-together too,sure every one will love it and will be surprised to know the secret ingredient in the dish.

3) Adding Kasoori Methi and Celery to this rice has enhanced the flavors of the rice.

4) Will definitely make it again.

Beerakaya Allam PachiMirchi Karam Kura/Ridgegourd Curry Flavored with Ginger-Chilly Paste

This is another simple and delicious curry we can make with RidgeGourd.The sweetness of the tender ridgegourd blends in very well with the spiciness of crushed ginger and chilly.You would surely love to make this again.Even kids will love to eat this with rice and a touch of ghee.

Let us see how we make this simple Ridgegourd curry------------

Main Ingredients :

----------------------

Tender RidgeGourd....................2(large)

Ginger........................................1inch

Green Chilly...............................2

Seasoning Ingredients :

-----------------------------

Canola Oil...............................1tbsp

Mustard Seeds........................1/2tsp

Turmeric.................................1/8tsp

Salt.........................................to taste

Garnish :

------------

Cilantro.........................few leaves(finely chopped)

Preparation :

-----------------

Rinse the ridgegourd , ginger and chilly under cold water.Now peel the ridgegourd and cut into 1inch length pieces.Place a pan on the stove on medium high heat and add oil to it.Once the oil heats up add mustard seeds and let them pop then add the cut ridgegourd and turmeric to the pan and let cook for few minutes.

While the ridgegourd is cooking , take ginger and chilly in a mortar and pestle and crush them to small pieces.

Once the ridgegourd is tender and cooked add the crushed ginger and chilly along with salt and stir well and let cook for 1 more minute.

Finally garnish the curry with cilantro.

Delicious and healthy Ridgegourd Curry Flavored with Ginger Chilly Paste is ready to be served with hot rice or rotis.

Note :

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1) Always check the ridge gourd for bitterness before you cook.If it tastes bitter do not use it.

2) Do not throw the ridgegourd peel , you can use it to make chutney,dosa etc.

3) Ridgegourd is a watery vegetable so while cooking it retains water,if you do not want your curry to be watery add a spoon of rice flour to thicken the curry.(I did not use any rice flour in the curry).

RidgeGourd Peel-Barley-Moong Dosa/Crepe (Healthy and Fatfree Crepes)

Have been quite busy for the past 2 weeks and am lagging behind in posting many of the recipes.Well finally I am back after 3 days with a nice and healthy dosa recipe that has been waiting to be posted for a long time now.This was supposed to make it's way to Nithu's Best out of Waste Event but could not post it early.This dosa is not only rich in nutrients but sure very good for the hot weather.

This recipe goes to my event CWF : Barley . Dear readers please do participate and send your delicious entries to this event.
  

Let us see how I made this delicious and healthy dosa-------------

Main Ingredients :

----------------------

Ridgegourd Peel.................1cup

Yellow Moong Daal...........2cups

Barley................................1cup

Ginger.................................2inch

Green Chilly........................4(to taste)

Water................................enough to grind 

Seasoning Ingredients :

----------------------------

Salt.....................................to taste

Preparation :

----------------

In separate bowls rinse the moong daal and barley and soak them for 4hours.Take the rinsed and cleaned ridge gourd peel and chop it into small pieces.

After 4 hrs,blend the ridgegourd peel and barley with water, ginger and chillies(the green batter below) and then blend moong daal with the remaining water(yellow batter below).The batter must not be too runny or too thick,it must be smooth and pourable consistency.

Pour both the batters into a single bowl and add salt to taste and mix them together.You can see that the batter is green in color(color of the ridgegourd peel).Now that the batter is ready we can make the dosas.

Place a pan on the stove on medium high heat and let it get hot , now spoon the batter on the pan and spread the batter from inside to out in circular motion making a circle of the batter.

Let the batter cook for a minute and you will see that the dosa will be leaving the sides of the pan then flip the dosa to the other side and let cook for a minute or till the dosa is golden in color.

Remove the dosa from the pan and make few more in the same way as in the above step.

Delicious and healthy RidgeGourd Peel-Barley-Moong Dosa/Crepe is ready to be served.We had it with Kiwi-Cantaloupe Chutney and Yogurt .

Note :

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1) I did not use any oil for making dosas.

2) I did not use whole moong because I did not want it's color to dominate the color of the ridgegourd peel.

3) Ridge gourd peel has lot of nutrition and this is another way to make use of it.

Beerakaya Jeelakarra Karam Kura/RidgeGourd Curry with Cumin Flavored Chilly Powder

This is a very delicious ,healthy and easy to make Ridgegourd curry.This ridgegourd is also known as Chinese Okra.This vegetable is very healthy and can be given even when one is not well.It is digested very quickly.We can use this vegetable in making curries,chutneys etc.To season this curry, I am using cumin flavored paprika which gives a nice flavor to this dish.The recipe I am presenting today will be ready just under 10 minutes. 

Let us see how this simple and healthy curry is made-----------

Main Ingredients :

----------------------

Tender Ridgegourd/Beerakaya............2 large(peeled and cubed)

Seasoning Ingredients :

--------------------------

Canola Oil..........................................1tbsp

Turmeric.............................................1/4tsp

Cumin Flavored Paprika.....................2tsp

Salt.....................................................to taste

Garnish :
------------
Cilantro..............................few leaves

Preparation :

-------------------

Rinse the ridge gourd and keep the peel aside.Cut it into 1 inch length pieces.Place a pan on the stove on medium high heat and add oil.Once the oil is hot add the ridgegourd pieces to the oil and cook covered for 2 min.

Now remove the lid and add very little salt and turmeric to the cooking veggies and stir well.

While the ridgegourd is cooking let us make the cumin flavored paprika powder.Take 2tsp of cumin and  2tbsp of paprika powder and grind them together with little salt in the mixie jar till the cumin is crushed. Delicious cumin flavored paprika powder is ready.

Now add the required amount of cumin flavored paprika powder(save the remaining powder for future use) to the cooked ridgegourd and let it cook for1 more minute and switch off the stove.

Delicious RidgeGourd Curry with Cumin FLavored Paprika is ready to be served with hot rice or rotis.

Note :

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1) Generally Ridgegourd when cooking retains water , if you do not like your curry watery add a teaspoon of rice flour or besan flour to the curry and mix well .This helps thicken the curry.

2) I did not add any flours to the curry.

3) My mother makes cumin flavored paprika with red whole chillies and  cumin and makes a coarse mix.As I did not have enough time I substituted paprika powder for whole chilly and got a smooth texture, this is a good way becuase kids will not feel the heat of the chilly flakes.

4) You can make this flavorful paprika powder in large quantity and save it for future use.You can use this to season stir fries and other curries too.

Ridgegourd Peel Chutney/Beerakaya Thokkala Pachadi

You can see that when I cook certain vegetables if the entire vegetable is edible I try to make complete use of it.For example you can see the 3-in-1 recipes where I make complete use of the plantain and the peel and make 3 lovely dishes out of them.Similarly when I cook with Ridgegourd/Beerakaya too I use the whole vegetable both the pulp and the peel.Ridgegourd/Beerakaya peel can be used to make chutney,or curry or podi.This is how my grandmother and my mom did and I am following their footsteps.

Today I am going to show how I make chutney with the peel--------------

Main Ingredients :
-----------------------
Ridgegourd Peel/Beerakaya Thokkalu..............from 3 big Ridgegourds
Green Chilly.....................................................4

Seasoning Ingredients :
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Canola Oil..............................2tbsp
Mustard Seeds........................1tsp
Cumin Seeds...........................1tsp
Chana Daal..............................2tsp
Urad Daal................................2tsp
Methi Seeds............................1/8tsp
Asafoetida/Hing.......................1/8tsp
Red Chilly................................1
Turmeric..................................1/4tsp
Tamarind..................................few flakes
Salt...........................................to taste

Preparation :
------------------
Rinse the peel well before using it.Place a pan on the stove on medium high heat.Add oil to the pan,once it heats up add the cumin seeds ,mustard seeds,chana daal ,urad daal , methi seeds and red chilly.Once the seeds all splutter add hing to the seasoning.

Once the seasoning is done transfer the seasoning to a mixie jar and let it cool.Now add slit green chillies and the ridgegourd peel to the remaining oil in the pan and fry till the rawness in the peel is gone and the peel looks cooked.

Once the peel is cooked switch off the stove and add tamarind flakes to hot peel.

Now transfer the peel with tamarind flakes into the mixie jar with the seasoning(keep little seasoning aside to garnish).Add salt and turmeric to the peel and blend it till smooth.

You need to grind the peel when it is hot so that you don't need to add any water while grinding.If you wait for the peel to cool down it would be little hard to grind ,then you will have to add little warm water while grinding.

Delicious Ridgegourd Peel Chutney /Beerakaya Thokkala Pachadi is reday to be served with rice, rotis, dosas and idlies.

Note :
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I did not use any water while grinding this chutney.

This recipes goes to Green Gourmet Event hosted by Preethi Kashyap.

This recipe goes to Best Out of Waste Event hosted by NithuBala.