Hello folks and welcome to the ‘new & improved’ Ruchik Randhap 🙂 Yes! After 8 long years I decided to take the plunge and convert my blog into a full fledged, self hosted website. I am hoping that the new features available on this platform will help me design my content better and make your browsing experience a pleasant one. For those of you who are new here, do check the ‘About’ section to know more about Ruchik Randhap, the new logo and ofcourse the author – me!
Since the moving of the content has been a mammoth task there will be a few loose ends for me to tie up in the upcoming weeks. You may encounter a few broken links in which case I request you to search for your recipe in the search bars (a tiny magnifying glass symbol at the top right corner of the fixed menu bar), below the About section and on the side bar below the ‘Archives’ section. If you still cannot find what you are looking for, do drop me a mail to ruchikrandhap@gmail.com. I am very excited to hear what you think about the new look, so do write in!
Coming back to today’s recipe, prawns are a favourite amongst many. I am no exception. I am glad that I can finally eat them after years of suffering an allergy. I totally love trying out new recipes and have a few lined up for you. First up, is this beautiful curry that is typical Mangalorean Catholic style redolent of our traditional cuisine and every sentiment of Mangalore I carry with me. There are many recipes that remind me of home and this is one of them.
I made this curry using tiger prawns (really large ones) but you can use any prawns. If you are using tiger prawns you can cut them into two (optional). This dish goes really well for your weekday meal. Serve it up with some steaming hot rice, some pickle on the side and perhaps a papad or two and relish it!
Sungta Ani Kuvalyachi Kadi ~ Mangalorean Style Prawn & Ash Gourd Curry
Ingredients
- 350 grams tiger prawns or any other prawns, cleaned and deveined (about 20)
- 650-750 grams ash gourd (kuvalo)
- 1-2 small green chillies slit
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 1-1/2 cups thin coconut milk
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- Salt to taste
For the masala:
- 7-8 byadge chillies (long, dry red chillies)
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 8-10 peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 fat flakes of garlic
- 2 medium sized onions
- 1 cup cup grated coconut
- 1 marble sized ball of tamarind
For the tempering:
- 1/2 medium sized onion, finely sliced
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 2-3 teaspoons coconut oil/ghee or any cooking oil
Instructions
- Clean, devein and keep the prawns aside. Peel the ash gourd, remove the pith and seeds and cut it into medium sized cubes.
- On a skillet/tawa dry roast these ingredients one by one, separately: chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns – remove and let it cool for a bit. They will turn crisp.
- Next, roast till the garlic and onions till the onions turn limp (if the onions burn/stick to the pan you can add 2-3 drops of oil). Remove and let it cool.
- Grind the roasted spices first to a fine powder, then add the roasted garlic, onions and the coconut, turmeric and tamarind together using a little water. The masala should be fine.
- In a heavy based pan or kadai cook the ash gourd with the thin coconut milk, salt, slit green chillies and chopped ginger till tender but not mushy. To this add the ground masala paste and the reserved masala water (derived from rinsing the grinding jar with approx. ½ cup water)
- Check salt and bring the curry to a boil. Add the cleaned prawns and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the thick coconut milk. Do not cover the pan once the coconut milk is added or else the milk will curdle.
- Prawns should not be overcooked or they will turn chewy (approx. 1-1/2 to 2 minutes in boiling curry is good). When you notice them curdled up and opaque, remove the pan from the heat. Cover
- Heat oil or ghee in a small pan for seasoning. Toss in the curry leaves and then the sliced onions and fry till the onions turn golden brown. Pour this mixture into the prepared curry and immediately close the lid to trap the aroma and flavours.
- Serve hot with rice.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
I cant wait to try this
Thanks a ton Jan!!
Wow….the curry looks delicious….never heard of this combo before and to say it…i never tasted ash gourd till date….this curry is tempting me to try it….thank you for sharing….
On other note…love the new look of your space…its fresh and clean….
Thanks a lot Lubna!! 🙂 Glad u liked the curry and the new look as well!
Excellent no word’s to say
Thanks a ton Kalpana!!
The new look is really amazing… love the colors used and overall feel of the page! I am allergic to prawns as well so can’t have them. 🙁 This looks like a delicious curry… love the combination of veg with non-veg…
Thank you so much Rafee!! 🙂
Hi shireen, I always follow ur recepies for cooking and i am so thankful to you for providing such mouth watering recepies just one question how much does one cup mean in milliliters(ml).All the best
Hi Rayner,
Thanks a ton for those lovely words of appreciation! So glad to know that you enjoy my recipes! Well, the international measure of 1 cup is 237ml but generally rounded off to 240ml. Unless you are baking, you can use a 250 ml cup measure!
Hi shireen, I appreciate the information you have provided me..
My pleasure Rayner!
Thank you Shireen for the great receipe. Tried it and it turned out fabulous.
So glad to hear that Rohan! Thanks for the feedback!
I cooked once, turned out to be happy, my daughter loved it most
Thanks for the Reciepe
Thanks for the feedback Preetham! So glad you enjoyed it!
Love the new look of the website and I must say I loved the earlier one as well. You always seem to put in so much more to your recipes that no one could ever go wrong.
I have tried a couple of your recipes over the years and I have never been disappointed. Despite being away from home, it’s nice to create the Mangalorean flavour that we all wish to create in our homes. This recipe turned out to be another big hit. Thanks Shireen. Continue the good work.
Thank you so much for your kind words Anita!! So glad to know that you have tried and liked my recipes with success! It is people like you who make blogging worth the effort! Thank you yet again and I am happy that you like the new look of the website 🙂
Hi shireen.. Can the prawns be replaced by beef? Will the recipe be the same?
Hi Melanie,
Yes you can use this recipe for the beef or the one for mutton polov (recipe is on my blog)..instead of mutton use beef. I have 2 recipes for the polov..one is a big complex (wedding style) and the simpler one uses vegetable masala powder – you could try that
I just tried this recipe today..accurate measurements ..and turned out to be a really delicious curry. Thanks Shireen!!
Hi Nisha,
I am so glad that you liked this recipe so much! Thank you for the feedback!
I tried this recipe with few changes and very happy to say the result was excellent! A very tasty polov from Mangalore. I had never cooked ash gourd before. Thank you. Would highly recommend this to anyone.
Thank you so much for your great feedback Jessica! Happy to know that the recipe worked out well for you!
When does one add the ash gourd into the curry? Am I missing this somewhere?
Please check step# 5…you have to cook the ash gourd in the thin coconut milk first and add the ground masala to it 🙂
Hi! Please tell me if the same recipe can be followed for moghem (yellow cucumber) and prawn curry.
Hi Natty,
Yes, ofcourse! You can use it to make any kind of seafood+veg combo curry
Very nice recipe of prawns.
Thank you very much for your comment Sakshi!