Ridge Gourd Skin Thuvayal - Peerkangai Thol Thuvayal

Ridge gourd peel thuvayal or Peerkangai Thol thuvayal is an easy thuvayal recipe made with ridge gourd peel or skin and other minimal ingredients.  Never let your ridge gourd peel go waste and try this easy thuvaiyal recipe which works as great side dish with dosa, idli and steamed rice. Rice mixed with this thuvayal and ghee along with some papad or potato chips is great combination to relish. 

 

Ingredients
 
Ridge gourd (peerkangai) skin - 1 cup  (or skin from 1 or 2 ridge gourds)
Tamarind - small marble sized ball
Grated coconut -2 tbsp
Hing and salt as per taste
 
For Seasoning
 
Oil -2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 2tsps
Whole black pepper -1/4 tsp
Red chillies - 2 or 3

Method

Wash the ridge gourd well, peel the skin and chop it into small pieces.You can use the flesh for preparing kootu or chutney or poriyal. 

Heat oil in a pan and do the seasoning with the ingredients mentioned under "For Seasoning". Then add the chopped ridge gourd skin, hing, salt and tamarind and fry until the skin turns tender. Turn off the flame, add grated coconut, mix well and allow to cool down completely. 

Then transfer to a mixer and grind to coarse paste. This thuvayal can be served with rasam sadam or curd rice or even can be mixed with hot rice along with a tsp of ghee or oil.

Red Bell Pepper Tomato Chutney

Red Bell Peppers/Capsicum is one vegetable which is rich in vitamins and nutrients.  Red bell peppers are the ripe version of green bell peppers and hence they have a sweet taste. They have double the amount of vitamin C and are 10 times rich in Vitamin A. They are rich source of anti-oxidants. They are a great source of Vitamin B6 and minerals. They grow in different colors varying from green, red, yellow, orange etc. Making a chutney out of this versatile veggie is a good way to start a day with. This  chutney is a nice accompaniment for idly, dosa, adai or pongal. Now to the recipe!!

Ingredients

Red Bell Pepper - 1, chopped into 1" pieces
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Salt and Oil as required

Dry roast

Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Dry red chillies - 2 (adjust as per taste)
Cumin - 1 tsp

For Tempering

Oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, dry red chillies and hing

Method

1. Heat a pan, dry roast the ingredients mentioned under "Dry roast" and set aside.
2. Add oil in the heated pan, add garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the onions and saute until they turn transparent. Now add the tomatoes and fry until they turn mushy. After that add the red bell pepper and coriander leaves. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the red bell pepper is half cooked. Allow to cool down.
3. Blend the dry fried ingredients to a coarse powder and then add the bell pepper, tomatoes mixture along with salt and grind to a fine paste
4. Do the tempering and add to the chutney. Serve with any kind of idly or dosa.

Kaara Chutney (Spicy Onion-Tomato Chutney)

This is an authentic Chettinad style Kaara chutney which goes very well with Idly, Dosa or Wheat Dosa. If hot and spicy chutney's are your favorite, then this is the one to go to. If you wish to reduce the spiciness, just soak the red chillies in water for 10-15 minutes, squeeze and use it along with the other ingredients. This is such a simple and easy to make recipe. Now, off to the recipe!

Ingredients

Small Onions - 10-15 numbers
Tomato - 1, ripe and medium in size
Garlic - 2 cloves
Red Chillies - 2 or 3 (try using byadagi chillies, they give a nice color to the dish)
Salt as required

For Seasoning

Oil, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves as per taste

Method

Grind together the onions, tomato, garlic, red chillies and salt to a smooth paste. You can also add a small piece of tamarind if you want the chutney to be tangy and spicy. Do not add any water to this mixture.

Heat oil in a pan, do the tempering and add the ground mixture. Cook on medium flame until the mixture oozes out oil. Spciy kaara chutney is ready to be enjoyed with any kind of idly or dosa!!

Ridge Gourd Chutney/Peerkangai Thuvayal

Ridge gourd poriyal is one of my favorites that my mom used to cook. But VJ was not very much interested in that. And so it has become a rarest make in my kitchen. When I came to know that we can make chutney with this nutritious vegetable, I wanted to give it a shot. Luckily this suited the taste buds of all the members in my family and now it has become a frequent visitor :) Prajju loves this a lot!! Check the "Nutritional Information" section for more info and now to the recipe.

Ingredients

Ridge gourd - 2
Onion - 1, chopped finely
Tomato - 1, chopped
Garlic - 2, chopped
Salt, hing and turmeric powder as per taste

Ingredients

Oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves

Method

1. Wash and scrap the skin of the ridge gourd (you do not have to peel off the skin completely). Chop it into medium sized pieces
2. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Add the chopped garlic and onions and saute until the onion turns translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes turn mushy.
3. Then add the chopped ridge gourd, salt, hing and turmeric powder. Keep covered and cook until the ridge gourd is fully cooked. This will not take much time as the vegetable gets cooked quickly. Also you may not have to add water as the vegetable itself will ooze out some water. Switch off the flame and set aside to cool down.
4. Grind in a mixer to a smooth paste. Do the tempering and pour it in the ridge gourd chutney. Enjoy with Idly/dosa.

** You can also make it as a thuvayal, by altering the ingredients. Skip onion, tomatoes and garlic. Just cook the vegetable and grind it along with a small piece of tamarind and 2 tbsp of coconut. Then do the tempering. Ridge gourd thuvayal is ready to be enjoyed with hot rice!!

Nutritional Information

Vegetables of the "gourd" family are extremely advantageous through the health perspective. Of these the Ridge gourd is said to be extremely rich in fibre, quite lower in saturated fats and calories. It is abundant in Vitamin C, zinc, thiamin, iron, magnesium etc and boosts up your immune system. When included in your regular diet this vegetable acts as an excellent blood purifier. Also as this is a watery vegetable this helps in reducing your body weight. The best part is this veggie has a nice sweet taste that everyone will like. So include this in your regular diet as a stir fry or poriyal or chutney and enjoy its benefits.

Carrot Chutney

Ingredients

Carrot - 2 shredded
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic - 1 or 2 pods
Dry Red Chillies - 2
Channa Dal - 2 tsp
Urad dal - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil, Salt and hing as required

To Temper

Oil, Mustard Seeds, Curry leaves, Urad dal

Method

• Heat oil in a pan. Fry cumin seeds, channa dal, urad dal, red chillies, garlic and ginger
• Add in the onions and saute till transparent and then add the tomatoes
• Stir for couple of minutes and then add the grated carrots
• Cook for 2-3 minutes and switch off the stove
• Let it cool and grind to a smooth paste
• Do the tempering and add it to the chutney
• Goes well with idly, dosa, pongal, chapathi or even curd rice