Lenten season marks the beginning of a veg diet for a typical Syrian christian family. It was not so for my hubby till he married me. His family never obeyed such strictures. But the 40 day lent and 25 day advent is more or less like a detox programme rather test our temptation and gluttony. This is the time soya and mushroom, beans of different kinds visits our kitchen. So I begin with an all time favourite in Kerala kitchen the moru curry. This is a buttermilk preparation mildly spiced and cooked with a veggie. I love the ashgourd and I guess that's the most frequent form in which I have consumed ash gourd if not in sambar.
So with the first sunday of lent I decided to post this from my gallery of collected recipes. Hope to have some nice veg food over the weekend as I am leaving for home to my hubby. This recipe was actually the first one my hubby ever tried when I was down with fever long time ago. So I introduce him here and add this as a guest recipe. I hear he is specialising in some stuff back home alone, in my absence. Hope to see new inventions here.
Ingredients for Kumbalanga moru
Ash gourd- 1/4 kg
Buttermilk- 500 ml
Green chillies- 3-4 slit into halves
Shallots- 4-6 minced
Garlic- 3- 6 minced
Ginger- a small piece sliced
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Dry chilly- 2-3
Fenugreek seeds- 1 pinch
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Asafoetida- 2 tsp
Salt- to taste
Oil
Directions
In a pot cook the ash gourd with the turmeric powder, chilli powder, asafoetida, green chillies and ginger. When the ash gourd is cooked add salt and let it cool for some time.
Add salt to the buttermilk and whisk it. Add the buttermilk to the cooked ash gourd and heat it lightly. In a pan heat oil. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry chillies and let them splutter. Now add the curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric and chilli powder saute for a minute and transfer this to the ashgourd- buttermilk mix. Mix well and let the flavours blend and your moru curry is ready. The same can be repeated with raw banana, yam, pineapple and cucumber.
