Friday, November 27, 2009

Spicy Bottle Gourd


This is a simple South Indian vegetable dish using bottle gourd, or surai-kuduvai in Tamil. The Bottle gourd is one of the oldest cultivated gourds it has even been found in caves in Mexico dating back some 7000 years! It is also often used to make the hollow part of a sitar. They contain mostly water, some vitamin C and fiber.

I was contacted by My Spice Sage a wonderful online spice shop to try some of their spices, and of course I said yes, I use lots of herbs and spices from around the globe. I asked for some Indian curry powders, I must admit I was a little skeptical that they couldn't measure up to my mother in laws from India. But they were really good, I decided to use the Maharajah curry mix as the name makes you think of fabulous kingdoms from long ago and cuisines fit for kings.


Ingredients:
  • one bottle gourd, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • teaspoon of mustard seeds
  • pinch of salt
  • 5 curry leaves
  • one spoon of the Maharajah spice mix
  • pinch of turmeric
  • 1/2 red onion chopped
  • 2 small green chili's
  • canola oil
Method:

  1. heat the oil and pop the mustard seeds, add curry leaves, chili's and garlic and onions saute for 2 minutes
  2. then add turmeric, bottle gourd and cook slowly with curry powder for 30 minutes until soft.
I ate this with egglant dal and rice. Overall it had a great flavor and I am looking forward to using the garam masala, and tandoori mix next.

chop the ingredients
saute it slowly

Enjoy..

and this is a fabulous article of Britain's love for curries from the BBC


Have a great weekend everyone

Love




41 comments:

  1. I love Indian recipes... & this look so simple yet delicious recipe to try ...
    Have a good day :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love bottle gourd :) Infact I am just about to make one with shrimp..

    this looks delish and savory :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks very flavorful and delicious!

    Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fascinating blog! I would love to try some of the recipes, particularly the Indian recipes. Love that pic of the Brits and Rajahs on the elephant!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think I will be moving in to your house! I love all the things you make (minus the meat!).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I haven't had bottle gourd - how interesting! Will have to look out for those :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have never heard of, or seen, a bitter gourd. Interesting....

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like bottle gourd, but always tried them with a simple stir-fry. This sounds a better alternative to cook a gourd!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love Indian food! That sounds healthy and delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think u had typed bitter gourd instead of bottle gourd...from the picture it looks like bottle gourd...hope i am not wrong,pls check...i lov bitter gourd than bottle gourd...

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a beautiful recipe - the dish looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rebecca... What a wonderful combination of spices & textures in this dish. It looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This looks like a great recipe. The article on curries in the UK was quite interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love a good curry! Looks delish!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't cook much Indian food, but that looks really good! I might have to start!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Arabic Bites; thanks you will have to give it a try
    Jhonny walker: oh sounds great with shrimp add to your blog
    Deb: oh it was lovely thanks so much
    Heather: thanks for stopping by pleased you like it
    Melinda: too kind
    s thanks and thanks for visiting
    Rachel: you can find them in Indian stores, thanks for visiting
    GF Gidget: I only know because my hubby is Indian lol, thanks for stopping by
    Angie: thanks hope you like it
    Erica: thanks
    Vrinda:its bottle gourd will check and correct thanks
    Angie; thanks
    George: thanks so much
    Fresh Local and best: it was interesting so many years Brits love loved spicy food!

    ReplyDelete
  17. TKW: i bet you also cook it well
    nutritious is delicious thanks for stopping by your will have to start lol rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  18. Very cool. Indian food can be so warming and delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That sounds great! How fun to get those spices!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have definitely seen this gourd before but have never eaten it before. Thanks for the info about it!

    I am definitely going to check out that website to buy some spices. I would never say no if anyone offered me some!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Right up my Indian and spice loving alley!

    I am making something similar today, since you have peaked my taste buds and those cravings never subside...

    ReplyDelete
  22. This sounds great Rebecca! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Mmmm, nothing like a new Indian recipe!! I love Indian cuisine. Thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Okay Rebecca, we need some interpretation here: what would be a good substitute for a bottle gourd? Butternut squash, courgettes? Not many bottle gourds in my part of Scotland!

    Looks great though.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Rebecca, This looks LOVELY...I love curries...and nothing beats the south asian vege curries ya ?...and you know what, coincidently...i wrote about how the Brits love curry just today : ) ( A lot of my family lives in the UK)...

    ReplyDelete
  26. Rebecca, this is beautiful! I'm so excited as I just bought Garam Masala for my first time and am so excited to use it!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. heavenly housewife: thats a nice description warming
    Tasty Trix; I bet they will send you some oh and they are giving us a coupon code!
    Joanne: they are giving me a coupon code i will forward to you!
    Chef E:oh can't wait to see yours lol
    Catherine: it was great thanks hope yours was as well
    Gina: hope you like it you too
    Janice: smiles what about a marrow?
    Nat: oh thats cool just saw your post awesome
    Diana: oh how cool is that, love it

    ReplyDelete
  28. Rebecca, I love curries, especially from Thailand. Come back on over and pick up your little gift from me. This is for all of your kind comments and following and for all that I have learned from your blog! Bye for now, Roz

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love Indian food, and I'm convinced that good spices make it taste authentic. Your dish looks very good!

    Thanks for reading my blog; glad you're enjoying it! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Bella thanks your sweet
    Emily: like wise lol

    ReplyDelete
  31. Great picture! It gives more falvor to your recipe.
    I am sure you'd enjoy reading "Curry: A tale of Cooks and Conquerors".

    ReplyDelete
  32. peachkins: thanks
    Laura: oh that does sound like a good book
    lol Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  33. hi, I am new here :). What exactly is a bottle gourd?

    ReplyDelete
  34. peanuts its a like a green squash found in Indian stores, thanks for stopping by Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is a wonderful side dish for my next indian meal! thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. I love bottle gourd! Always a winner! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
    And you et an account on Twitter?

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails