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Spice up the vegetarian platter

Go vegetarian for a change

Since many readers have asked for vegetarian dishes, the column will feature some from this week. A typical Pondicherrian curry, urulaikizhangu turuttu curry, is made of potatoes, snake gourd and a lot of onion, green chilli, green peas, raisins, cashew nut, green coriander and coconut milk. It is served with beans fugath or French beans porial.

Urulaikizhangu podalangai turuttu curry

Cooking time 30 minutes

Serves 6
Potatoes - half kg
Green peas - quarter kg
Raisin - 150 gm
Cashew nuts - a few for the potato mix
Snake gourd (podalangai) - 2, cut into big round pieces to stuff potato mix
Gingili oil - 2 tbsp
Bay leaf - half
Clove - 1
Cinnamon -1 small piece
Ginger garlic paste - half tbsp
Green chillies - 6, finely chopped
Onions - 6 big, finely chopped as for an omelette
Onions - 2 medium, finely chopped, for the gravy
Tomatoes - 2, finely chopped
Kuttu tul - 1 tbsp
Poppy seeds 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 6
Coconut - half a nut
Lemon - juice of one
Fresh coriander - 6 tbsp, finely chopped

Salt to taste
Black pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Grind poppy seeds and cashew nuts together to a fine paste.

Grate half a coconut and run it in the mixer with 100 ml water. Extract the first milk and keep aside. Extract the second and third milk each with 100 ml water.

Boil potatoes, peel and mash them. Boil peas and keep aside. In a frying pan, add gingili oil, shallow fry chopped onions and add green chillies. Cool, add mashed boiled potatoes, peas, raisins, cashew nuts, coriander leaves (5 tbsp) and salt. Stuff the snake gourd pieces with this mixture. Shallow fry.

In a frying pan, heat oil and add bay leaf, clove and cinnamon. Let the spices fry for a minute. Add onions, deep fry, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till golden. Add the kuttu tul. Fry for two minutes. Add tomato. Cook covered till the tomato is soft. Add salt and the second and third milk extracts. Bring to a boil. Add the stuffed snake gourd pieces. Cook for 15 minutes on alow fire. Mix the poppy seed-cashew nut paste to the first coconut milk and add it to the curry. Turn off the stove. Add lemon juice and remaining coriander leaves. Serve with rice and beans fugath.

Kuttu tul

Many spices are ground together and constitute the base for many delicious curries. Dry chillies - 50 gm

Coriander seeds - 100 gm
Black pepper - 50 gm
Turmeric - 10 gm
Cumin seeds - 50 gm
Fenugreek seeds - 5 gm
Chick peas - 50 gm
Urad dhal - 50 gm
Tuvar dhal - 50gm

Dry the spices in the sun and roast them without oil. Grind in a mixer to a fine powder and store in an airtight container.

French beans fugath

Cooking time 30 minutes

Serves 6
Beans Fugath is also known as beans porial. In Goa, the dish is known by the same name and cooked the same way. Perhaps, the Portuguese missionaries brought this recipe to this part of the Union Territory. A lot of coconut is used to make the bland vegetable taste good.
Ingredients
Tender French beans - 350 gm, cut fine
Gingili oil- half tbsp
Mustard seeds - half tsp
Urad dal - half tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Dry chillies - 2, broken
Coconut - half a nut grated
Water - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

In a frying pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves. Let mustard seeds splutter and add chillies, shallow fry. Add beans, salt, water, cover the pan and cook on a low fire till the vegetable is done. Add coconut and serve with the urulai podalangai turuttu curry.

KETHARI SRIVANJIAM

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