Bottle Gourd Stir Fry / Sorekai Poriyal

Bottle Gourd Stir Fry is prepared using bottle gourd, coconut, red chili and mustard seeds. This is called Sorekai / Chorakkai in Tamil, Chorakaa in Malayalam, Sorakaya / Anapa Kaya in Telugu, Sorekai / Esugai Balli / Halu Gumbala Sorekai palya in Kannada, Ghia / Lauki in Hindi. This bottle gourd curry goes very well with rice or chapathi.




Bottle Gourd is very good for health. It has been regarded as one of the healthiest vegetables. Bottle gourd cools your body, helps in weight loss, cures stomach problems and urinary infections. It keeps the heart healthy and relieves the stress.



Ingredients

Bottle Gourd - 1 ( Medium)

Grated Jaggery - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Lemon Juice - 2 tsp

To Temper

Oil - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chilli - 2

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad Dhal - 1 tsp

Channa Dhal - 1 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 2 pinches

Curry Leaves - few

For Grinding Masala

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Grated Coconut - 1/2 Cup

Chilli Powder/ Rasam Powder/ Dry Red Chilli (2) - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - few

Method

Wash, peel and chop the bottle gourd. If the seeds are hard then discard them.

Next take oil in a frying pan and heat it. Add in 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp urad dal and 1 tsp chana dal.

When the mustard seeds splutters and urad dal turns brown, add in asafoetida, turmeric powder, broken red chili and curry leaves.

Next add in chopped bottle gourd. Give a quick mix. Add in salt and jaggery. Add 1/4 cup of water and bring it to boil.

When it starts boiling reduce the flame, close the lid and cook until soft.

Stir in between and cook until soft under low flame. If the bottle gourd is tender, it will get cooked fast.

Meantime dry grind grated coconut, rasam powder, curry leaves and 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds using a small mixie jar.

Add in ground masala. Give a quick stir. Switch off the stove. Add in lemon juice and serve it with hot steaming rice or chapathi.