Bottle gourd "theeyal"

A "theeyal" is a dark brown, mildly spicy, roasted coconut masala based vegetable curry. Traditionally, the vegetables used are just a few handfuls of madras onions or shallots. There are many other versions made with different vegetables. There is the green drumstick and raw mango theeyal, the aubergine theeyal, the bitter gourd theeyal so on and so forth including the shrimp theeyal amongst the non vegetarian varieties too! The USP of this delicious curry is the combination of roasted coconut and tamarind pulp that brings out the delicate, appetising flavour and colour of the theeyal. The oil to be used is coconut oil, but if for any reason this is not possible, then any other oil could do.

Serves 4 to 6 persons
Cooking time : 1hr 10 minutes (including time to toast the coconut)

Ingredients

1. Bottle gourd/ghiya/lauki - 1 1/2 cups (peeled, seeded and cut in one inch long and quarter inch thick pieces).It should preferably be fresh and tender without any black or brown markings, then one need not peel or seed the bottle gourd at all, just top and tail it before cutting it up.
2. Large onion - 1, sliced (approx. 1/2 cup)

For the gravy or "masala"

3. Coconut (grated fresh) - 1 cup (or if using dessicated coconut then just 3/4 cup)
4. Cumin seeds (jeera)- 1/2 tsp
5. Coriander powder (raw) - 1 1/2tsp
6. Red chilli powder - 1 1/2tsp or less according to taste
7. Turmeric powder (haldi)- 1/2 tsp
8. Tamarind(imli)- a small lime-sized piece
9. Garlic - 1 clove (optional)
10. Shallots (madras onions) - 3 for tempering
11. Curry leaves - 2 fresh sprigs
12. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
13. Roasted fenugreek powder - 1 tsp
14. Dried red chillies - 2
15. Oil - 1 1/2 dessertspoons (coconut oil, preferably)
16. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Combine the chopped bottle gourd and large onion with one tablespoon of water and a pinch of little salt. Cook in the pressure cooker for only one whistle, not any more.
2. Roast the coconut in a frying pan on low heat till it becomes a fragrant, deep brown, taking care not burn it black. Cool it for sometime and while its still a little warm, powder it in a dry grinder (like a coffee grinder). Let it remain in the grinder.
3. In the warm pan, put half a teaspoon of cumin and roast on very low heat. When the cumin releases its aroma, add one and a half teaspoons coriander powder (raw) and roast this also. When the coriander powder begins to turn a deeper brown, add the red chilli powder and keep stirring these around in the pan for a couple of minutes. Transfer these into the grinder and powder well.
4. A couple of whole shallots along with a clove of garlic may be slightly browned in a drop of oil and added to the powder in the grinder. Add a little water and grind the whole thing into a thick smooth pasty mass.
5. Meanwhile, take a small (lime-sized) piece of tamarind and soak it in warm water. Mash and squeeze out the pulp and add a little more water to repeat and get more pulp. It should make a half cup of fairly thick seedless brown liquid at least. The sourness of the theeyal depends mainly on this.
6. Add all the coconut masala paste and the tamarind pulp to the cooked bottle gourd, with half a teaspoon of turmeric powder. Adjust salt.  Bring to a rolling boil, and cook for a few minutes till the curry has reached the consistency that you want. Take off heat.**
7. While the curry boils, chop remaining shallots into roundels. Heat a dessertspoon of oil, add a quarter teaspoon of mustard seeds, let them pop, then add a couple of torn, dried red chillies to brown slightly, and only then add the onions. Brown the onions on medium to low heat to a nice crisp. Finally add the curry leaves to the hot oil, let them sizzle for a couple of seconds to release some aroma and pour the whole tempered mass into the hot, cooked curry. Add a teaspoon of roasted and powdered fenugreek. Give the curry a nice stir and close the pot tightly to let the flavours and aromas mingle. Serve warm. Can be had with plain rice or rotis.

Tips:

This is slow cooking, as the coconut takes a while to brown nicely without burning, but the effort is worth every bit. One can, of course, toast and powder more batches of coconut and spices (excluding the onions and garlic),cool to room temperature and store this masala powder in the freezer for later use. Then, whenever any sort of theeyal is to be made, you will have the powdered masala all ready at hand.(If you have roasted coriander powder at hand, use this without roasting in Step 3.)

**This theeyal has a thick sauce or gravy because my family loves to have this with rotis! (It really tastes very good with fresh phulkas or paranthas!) But the gravy needs to be a little thinner to eat with rice, so  a 3/4 cup of water can be added before step 6, to get a nice, pouring (but not too watery) consistency of sauce.