Sorakaya Senagapappu Koora

Sorakaya Senagapappu Koora

This is one of my favorite childhood dishes that my mom used to make quite often. Adding lentils to any vegetable not only adds extra proteins but also increases the quantity of the curry that you are making. 

Ingredients:

Sorakaya (Bottle gourd) – 1 medium size
Chana dal (Bengal gram/Senagapappu) – ¼ cup
Onion – 1 medium size
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – few
Coriander leaves- few sprigs
Turmeric – 1/8 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Dry coconut powder – 1 tsp
Sesame seed powder – ½ tsp
Oil- 3 tbsp
Salt – to taste

Method:
I usually use a pressure cooker, when I use Chana dal in my curries.
First wash the chana dal until the water runs clear. Let the dal soak in a half cup of water. Meanwhile, put a pressure cooker on a medium flame and add the oil. Add the mustard seeds and wait till they crackle. Now add the cumin seeds. Then add the onions and some salt fry them till they are translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Then add the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, and some salt and fry for a minute. Make sure the spices don’t burn. Drain the water from the chana dal , do not throw away the water. Then add the bottle gourd and the chana dal to the cooker. Mix well. After a minute, add the water that the dal was soaked in. Mix everything well. Cover with the pressure cooker lid. Let it cook for 2 whistles. The key here is not to let the dal mash up too much. It still has to have a bite to it. After the pressure goes off, open the cooker and check if the curry is watery. It usually is, coz bottle gourd has a lot of water in it. Now turn on the flame and keep the lid open and let the water in the curry evaporate. When you see oil oozing out, add the coconut powder and sesame powder. Mix well.

               

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice or chapatti. Enjoy!!

Tasty Tip:
Instead of adding all the salt at once, I usually add little by little as the recipe proceeds. Seasoning every layer of the dish. Always add the salt on the lesser side. The water in the dish evaporates as you proceed. Once the water is evaporated, you will be left with the actual taste of the salt. So if you have added more salt, after the water is gone, it leaves the dish salty. You can always add more salt if it needs but removing extra salt from the dish is definitely not pretty.