Sorakaya pulusu(bottle gourd stew)

SORAKAYA PULUSU (bottle gourd stew)

Bottle gourd stew (sorakaya pulusu) is a common dish in andhra pradesh. Sorakaya pulusu is a one pot dish which is spicy,sour and sweet. This bottle gourd stew is best served with boiled rice,ghee and mudda pappu (plain boiled toor dal). 

Bottle gourd is also known as anapakaya or sorakaya in telugu. In Hindi it is luki or kaddu. Pulusu is actually sour, sweet and spicy broth. There are different vegetables we can use instead of bottle gourd in this dish like aloo, bendi, eggs, drum sticks etc.

PREP TIME: 10min COOKING TIME: 15 min TOTAL TIME: 25min     

SERVES: 5-7members

   INGREDIENTS:

1 bottle gourd (medium sized or 500-750 gms)

2 medium sized onions

4 green chillies

10 drumstick pisces

5 gms tamarind

3 tbsp oil

750 ml water

10 - 15 gms jaggery

10-12 curry leaves

A small bunch of coriander 

3 tsp of red chilli powder

2 ½ tsp of salt

1 tsp of asafoetida( hing or inguva)

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp of cumin and mustard seeds

1 tsp of black gram and chana dal

 ½ tsp of fenugreek seeds powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take 250 ml of water in a bowl, add 5 g of tamarind and soak it. If you already have the tamarind paste you can skip this step.

Now dice the bottle gourd into 1 inch cubes, chop the onions and green chillies roughly, cut the drumsticks into 3 or 4 inch length.

Now palace a pan on the stove and add 3 tbsp oil to the pan.

Once the oil is hot add 1 tsp of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, black gram, chana dal, 1 tsp asafoetida,½ tsp turmeric,½ tsp of fenugreek seeds powder or you can add a pinch of fenugreek seeds directly, 10- 12 curry leaves.

Now add the roughly chopped onion, green chillies to the pan and cook it on medium flame.

Once the onions have become transparent add the drumstick pisces and diced bottle gourd.

When water starts to come out from the bottle gourd, add 3 tsps of red chilli powder, 2 ½ salt, soaked tamarind (take the pulp out and strain the water) or 2 tbsp of tamarind paste and the remaining water.

Add the water according to your taste if you want thick stew then reduce the water.

Now cover the pan and pressure cook it up to 3 whistles.

Once the whistles have popped switch off the stove and let the cooker cool down

When the steam is out, open the lid and place it on the stove.

Now add 10-15 gms of jaggery and cook it till the jaggery is dissolved.

Once the jaggery is dissolved, switch off the stove, add the chopped coriander and serve it. 

Recipe with leftover:

Whenever there are leftovers of sorakaya pulusu the next day my mom used to make khichdi. In my house this is the dish we wait for mostly rather than the sorakaya pulusu itself.

If the leftover dish is enough for 2 persons , add 1 cup of rice and ¼ cup toor dal and 3 cups of water and pressure cook it up to 3 whistles. Now once the steam is out, mix it thoroughly, add some salt (if wanted) and ghee on top. Spicy, tangy and sweet khichdi is ready to be served.