Bottle Gourd Chutney/Thogayal

Dal and chiles are roasted, the shredded bottle gourd is cooked a little. Then it is ground with salt and turmeric. Finally do the tempering with a little mustard seeds and split urad dhal. This can be made in under 30 minutes. It is important to cook down the bottle gourd a little so that some of the water content is reduced. Bottle gourds are water rich veggie and hence need to do this step. Also, there is no need to add water while grinding as the bottle gourd will have the wetness to make a smooth chutney.

This vegetable is easy to grow and doesn't need much attention. Sow a couple of seeds and you'll have continuous produce for the rest of the season. And it gives not good, great yield! Many people do not like bottle gourd! I wonder why? They are great in sambhar or kootu. Here are a couple of recipes to tryand I bet that even haters will start liking it.

Bottle gourd - 1.5 cup, grated
Red chilli -3-4
Urad dhal -1/4 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Tamarind - 1 tsp

For tempering

Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Split urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Asafetida - 1/4 tsp

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Add the urad dal and red chilies and roast till golden brown. Set aside.

Return the same pan to stove. Add the shredded bottle gourd and cook for 4-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.