Turai sabji

Turai, as is called in North India for Ridge Gourd is a regular vegetable side dish in a Sindhi diet. This vegetable is not so popular because of lack of ideas about its preparation and due to its neutral taste. By adding basic Indian dry spices, its taste can be elevated to an unimaginable level.

Turai / Ridge Gourd, 500 gms

 

INGREDIENTS :

(1) Turai / Ridge Gourd (Washed, peeled and chopped) - 500 gms

(2) 3 large Onions finely chopped

(3) 3 medium sized Tomatoes, pureed

(4) 3 green chillies, finely chopped

(5) 1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste

(6) 1/4 teaspoon of Turmeric powder / Haldi

(7) 1 teaspoon of Red chilli powder

(8) 1 teaspoon of Cumin seeds / Jeera

(9) 1 teaspoon of Coriander / Dhania powder

(10) 1 teaspoon of Kitchen King Garam Masala powder

(11) 5 tablespoon of Cooking / Vegetable oil

(12) Salt to taste

Cuisine : Indian

Serves : 4 persons

Time required : 30 mins approximately

METHOD :

(1) Wash the Turai / Ridge Gourd thoroughly under water to clean them. Then peel them and chop them into bite sized cubes as shown in the image.

Chopped Turai / Ridge Gourd

(2) Finely chop Onions and green chillies. Grind the tomatoes using a mixer to form a puree.

(3) Set all the ingredients together as given in the ingredient list.

(4) Heat 5 tablespoon of cooking oil in a wok / kadhai. 

Add 1 teaspoon of Cumin seeds / Jeera to the warm oil and when it changes colour, add the finely chopped Onions and green chillies.

Saute until the Onions turn golden brown in colour. 

(5) Add the Tomato puree, mix well and sauté till they get cooked.

(6) Add Ginger garlic paste, mix well and sauté till the raw smell of it disappears.

(7) Add all the basic Indian dry spices like Turmeric powder / Haldi, Red chilli powder, Garam masala powder and Coriander / Dhania powder. Mix well. Saute for 2 minutes.

(8) Add 2 glasses of water and salt to taste. If you want a curry form of sabji, add water or else if you want dry sabji, you need not add water as Tarai / Ridge Gourd itself leaves water while cooking and this water itself is enough for the cooking of this sabji. 

(9) Add chopped Turai / Ridge Gourd to this gravy and mix well. Cook for 10 minutes on a medium flame with lid closed. Stir in between to prevent it from sticking and burning at the bottom of the wok.

(10) After ten minutes or when the Turai is cooked, turn off the flame. The sabji will have turned out to be of thick consistency.

The Turai sabji is ready.

(11) Serve the Turai sabji in a serving bowl as shown.

(12) This yummy sabji can be had with any Indian bread like Chapatis / Phulkas / Puri. My personal review is that it tasted great with Phulkas.

Turai sabji is very low in calories and fat and hence very useful for those trying to lose weight. It is high in fiber and hence useful for lowering cholesterol and improving digestion.