Ash Gourds In Spicy, Sweet Coconut Gravy / Kuvale Puli Koddel

Ash gourds in a spicy, sweet coconut gravy Kuvale Puli, Puli Koddel Kuvale puli or puli koddel is a Konkani delicacy. A coconut based curry that is sweet, spicy, sour and full of flavour with juicy ash gourds in them that are yum 😋 Ash gourds in this curry take up the amazing flavour and taste of the delicious curry and are a real pleasure to eat.

Ash gourd, winter melon or white gourd is a very healthy vegetable called as kuvale in Konkani. Kuvale puli or puli koddel is a Konkani dish usually prepared on special occasions and is served with steaming hot rice rice for lunch, dinner.

👉Ash gourd has many health benefits and has great medicinal value too. It is used to cure kidney stones, digestive problems and is an excellent diet for diabetic patients. It is also used to cure acidity and intestinal worms. Ash gourd juice also helps in weight loss.👈

Ingredients

1/2 kg ash gourd
1/2 cup grated coconut
6+ 8 dried I used Byadgi & Guntur red chillies
2 tbsp chana dal
Little marble tamarind
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp of coriander seeds
1 tbsp of sesame seeds
A pinch of turmeric piece/power
2 tbsp of jaggery
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For seasoning

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
2 leaflets curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
2 dried broken red chilli
1/4 tbsp sesame seeds optional

💁👇 Method

Peel the ash gourd and remove off the middle portion containing seeds.Chop ash gourd into big cubes and cook them closed until done using 1 cup of water. You need not add lots of water or 💁enough water to dip all the ash gourds.When the ash gourds are half way cooked add salt and jaggery mix well. 💁Do not add salt until its almost cooked as it doesn’t cook sometimes.

💁👇For Masala

First need fry spices. Frying the spices right is very crucial to get the right taste of the curry.

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a skillet. Simmer the flame and add spices into the skillet in this order. Saute continuously to fry the spices uniformly. Add in fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal , dried red chillies broken into pieces, curry leaves, sesame seeds, turmeric piece, grated coconut and fry them for few minutes on a low flame.

Remove off heat and allow it to cool completely.

Grind the fried contents along with salt, and tamarind into a coarse paste using water. Add💁 Jaggery depending on how 👉sweet you would like your curry to be. Add the ground masala to the cooked ash gourd in the cooking vessel and mix well. Add 1 cup of water to the curry and mix well. Keep the curry 💁semi thick. It’ll thicken as it cooks and thicken more on💁 cooling due to the ground . The consistency of kuvale puli is🤷 usually thick.

Bring the curry to a boil on a medium flame. Check and adjust salt. Keep stirring every once in a while as it could stick to the bottom of the vessel and start to get burnt. Once the curry comes to a boil, simmer on a low heat until the 💁rawness of the masala goes off.

Remove the curry off heat and season it for added flavour.

In a tempering pan heat oil, add in mustard seeds. Once they start poping, add in broken pieces of red chilli, curry leaves and sesame seeds 💁optional let them sizzle for few seconds. Add this seasoning to the curry and mix well.

Serve the curry hot with a bowl of hot steaming rice and enjoy.😘😋👌