Kuvale Sasam ( Ash Gourd/Wintermelon cooked in mustard flavored coconut sauce)

Kuvale ( Ash Gourd or Winter Melon) is one of my favorite vegetables. It is not only delicious, it is good for the body. It soothes the digestive system. Apart from Kuvale puli koddel, another common and popular dish made by konkani GSBs with this vegetable  is kuvale sasam. It is a very simple and humble dish made by adding cooked ash gourd pieces to a sauce made by grinding together coconut, red chillies, tamarind and a few mustard seeds. The sauce should not be spicy.It is absolutely delicious. You can also eat it like a stew.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Ash gourd/Wintermelon/ kuvale: 1 lb slice.
Water: 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup for grinding.
Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
Dried red chillies: 3 medium sized ones.
Tamarind: marble sized if dry; 1/8 tsp if using the pulp.
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp+ 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves : 1 sprig
Coconut oil: 1 tsp

Method:

Cut the ash gourd/Wintermelon/kuvale into medium sized pieces.  Add the pieces to a pot, add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt and let it cook until tender ( usually takes around 10-15 mins).

In a blender/food processor/mixie, grind together freshly grated coconut, tamarind, dried red chillies to a fine paste. When the paste is almost done, add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and pulse twice.

Add the ground paste to the cooked ash gourd/Wintermelon/kuvale. Mix well and bring it to a boil. Turn off the flame.

Tempering:

In a small frying pan, heat 1 tsp coconut oil. Add mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add curry leaves. Turn off the flame. Add this to the above pot.

Serve hot with rice/roti.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

Whenever you cook vegetables that have a high water content, make sure that you do not add too much water. Just add enough water so as to help the cooking process. Otherwise, the additional water given off by the vegetable will make your sauce too thin, watery and tasteless.

In case you do end up with a lot of water after cooking the Wintermelon , remove some of the liquid and keep aside before adding the ground paste. You can always add the reserved liquid to the pot depending on the preferred consistency of the sauce.

Tip for healthy living:

If you have a upset tummy, trying mixing a pinch of salt and hing ( asofoetida) into a cup of buttermilk and drinking it. This helps settle the tummy. ( This is not for people who are lactose intolerant)!

Food for thought:

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kuvale puli koddel ( Wintermelon/ ash gourd curried in a tangy coconut-based sauce)

Ash gourd is known as kuvale in konkani. It is one of my favorite vegetables since I was little. My two favorite dishes made from kuvale are kuvale sasam and kuvale pulikoddel. Ok there are nore: I like kuvale sambar and kuvale halwa! How could I have forgotten the halva!! That is a yummy treat. But today I am going to talk about kuvale puli koddel which is another one of those dishes that I started liking as I grew older. This is also one of the traditional dishes that is served as part of the famous 5-day festival, Kodial Theru(Mangalore Car festival ).

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Ash gourd/ Wintermelon: 1 piece weighing about 1 lb
Jaggery: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Water: 1 cup

For roasting and grinding:

Dried red chillies: 4
Urad dal: 1 tsp
Chana dal: 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Raw rice: 1 tbsp
Grated coconut: 3 tbsp
Hing: pinch
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Sesame seeds: 3 tsp


For tempering:

Coconut oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves : 1 sprig

Method:

Peel and cut the wash gourd into bite size pieces. Cook it with salt, jaggery and one cup water until tender. Keep aside.

Dry roast all the ingredients listed under " for roasting and grinding". When cooled grind to a medium fine paste using a little water.

Add the ground paste to the cooked ash gourd.

Tempering:

In a small frying pan, heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves. Turn of the flame. Add this to the above pot.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Cooking made easy:

This dish can be made with any green gourds or green squash, zucchini or cucumber.

The best way to peel any squash is using a peeler. Using a knife to peel can prove tedious!

Tip for healthy living:

All green gourds/ squashes are great for good health. They can be used during any elimination diet as they are soothing to the gut. However they have to be cooked without too many spices!

Food for thought:

A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work. John Lubbock