Beerakaya Kura - Andhra Style Ridge gourd Curry

It is a delectable Andhra style ridge gourd cooked in a tomato based gravy.The result is a delicious curry that has a slight sweet favour and goes very well with rotis and rice. It is a simple, healthy & quick to make this delicious vegetarian curry. Do not omit the jaggery and saunf (aniseed) because they both give this curry a savory yet sweet flavor. 

Ridge gourd curry goes best with rotis but tastes equally good with rice.  It is spicy and colorful. Ridge gourd is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and calories that aids in weight loss. Ridge gourd juice is used to heal jaundice and to strengthen the immune system against any infection. 

You can try other ridge gourd recipes on my blog like

Ridge gourd Peel Chutney

MORE GRAVY RECIPES ARE LINKED BELOW

Sprouted Moth bean (matki curry)

Soya chunks Aloo kurma

Mushroom kurma

Spicy mushroom

Prep  time	Cooking time	Serves
10 mins	20 mins	4  persons

Recipe Course: Side dish

Recipe type: South Indian cuisine

Ingredients Ridge gourd – 4 no’s Onion -1 no Tomato – 3 no’s Garlic – 5 cloves Red chilli powder -2 tsp Coriander powder -2 tsp Turmeric powder -1 tsp Methi seeds powder – ¼ tsp Jaggery powdered -1 tsp Fennel seeds – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Coriander leaves -5 sprigs Seasonings Cooking oil – 1 tbsp. Mustard seeds – ½ tsp Cumin seeds  -1 tsp Curry leaves -2 sprigs Dry red chilli -2 no’s Hing – pinch

Method

1.Peel ridge gourds using a peeler, wash and chop into small pieces. 

2.Chop onion, coriander and keep other items aside.

3.Heat oil in a pan on medium flame, add mustard seeds and let it crackle.Add the asafetida powder, curry leaves and red chilli and let it splutter. 

4. Now roughly pound the garlic cloves using a pestle and mortar and add it to the pan and sauté until the garlic turns golden.Add the finely chopped onion and sauté until it turns translucent. 

5. Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté well. 

6. Now, add the cubed ridge gourds, mix well and let the ridge gourd cook in its own juices for 5 minutes.

7. Once the ridge gourd is cooked, add the jaggery, fennel seeds and roasted fenugreek seeds powder and mix well.

8. To this add the red chilli, coriander, turmeric, season with salt and sauté until the oil separates out.

9. Adjust consistency of the gravy to suit your needs. I usually like to make it on the thicker side. 

10. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Stir well until well combined, cover with lid and cook again for 2 minutes over medium heat.

11.Let it simmer for another 5 minutes, once the gravy becomes thick switch off the flame. 

Serving suggestions

Pulkas or parathas 

Steamed rice

Notes

• Adjust spice levels to suit your taste.
• If you do not have roasted methi powder, you omit it OR add 1/4 tsp of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) when sautéing the onions.

Neer mor /Masala majjige/ Sri Rama Navami recipes – Andhra cuisine

Spicy butter milk or masale majjige is distributed along with Kosambari and panakam on Ramanavami, a Hindu festival. Masale majjige improves digestion.neer majjige or neer moru is a delicious spiced buttermilk from the South Indian cuisine during Ram Navami, neer mor is offered to lord rama.This is also a traditional drink. It is prepared as a naivedhyam on Sri Rama Navami.

Traditionally, Neer Mor (Chaas in Hindi, Sambaram in Malayalam, and Majjiga in Telugu) is prepared by churning curds/yogurt using a wooden whisk (Matthu in tamil). Whisking separates the butter from curd leaving behind a thin water. 

It is spiced up with Tadka/Thallippu (Mustard seed and cumin seasoning with hing, curry leaves, finely chopped ginger and green chili) and then garnished with a handful of fresh coriander leaves and saved in a clay pot until it is time to serve.

It is given to all the ladies along with panama after the meal. It is very common in south India. It is a summer drink since south India is a hot place. It is even distributed in stalls for free in south India in summer festivals and carnivals. Traditional butter milk is the liquid left after churning the butter out of cream. It becomes a little sour when not refrigerated after churning.

Neer Mor which boasts of its cooling properties yet its peculiarity of its spicy tinge. A popular drink in South India, the Neer Mor is the regular on any menu during the summer. This spicy Buttermilk or Masale majjige is made with plain yogurt, pepper, coriander leaves, curry leaves, asafoetida and ginger.

Health benefits of buttermilk

Buttermilk is lower in fat than regular milk.It is rich in potassium, vitamin B12, calcium, and riboflavin & phosphorous.

Very helpful in digestion and helps in weight management.

Low in calories & hIt cures acidity.Helps develop immunity  & makes skin & hair healthy and beautiful

Other Beverages link are below

Chia Detox water

Mango Pineapple Juice

Energy Drink

Prep  time	Mixing time	Serves
10 mins	5 mins	3 persons

Recipe type:  Beverages

Cuisine: Andhra cuisine

Ingredients Thick curd -1 cup Water -3 cups Curry leaves chopped -1 tsp Chopped cilantro -1 tsp Salt –to taste Seasonings Oil -1 tsp Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp Hing -pinch Finely chopped green chili - ½ tsp Grated ginger – ½ tsp

Method

1. Mix in curd (plain yoghurt), water and salt. Whisk or mix it well and prepare buttermilk. 

2. You can also use 3 cups of buttermilk prepared in traditional way.(I used mixer for whipping).Add curry leaves and coriander leaves.

3. Grate the ginger and keep aside 

OR 

Tie grated ginger in a muslin cloth and squeeze the juice into the above. 

4. . Chop the green chilies and keep it ready.Now prepare tempering using 1 tsp of oil, cumin seeds, asafoetida, green chili, grated ginger, curry leaves and coriander leaves. 

5. Add this tempering to the buttermilk and mix well.Pour it in the yogurt mixture.Stir it well and serve.

Notes

a) Serve the buttermilk chilled in summer it tastes very good.

b) Use half asafetida while churning and half while tempering.

c) If the curd in not sour you can add lemon juice. It tastes good also.

d) Instead of chopping you can grind the chilli,curry leaves and coriander leaves and add it to the buttermilk

e) Buttermilk is served in clay pots or make.

Ugadi pachadi –Andhra cuisine

Ugadi is the first day of New Year in Andhra, Karnataka, Telangana and celebrated as Gudipadwa in Maharashtra. Ugadi Pachadi recipe symbolizes the six tastes and emotions in life. Ugadi, popularly known as Yugadi, is the Telugu and Kannada New Year ceremony and is celebrated with fervour and gaiety across the southern regions of India.

In Maharashtra, people celebrate Ugadi as Gudi Padwa marking the same significance on the same day. The festival is celebrated on the first day of the month of Chaitra and marks the first of the calendar new year.

Significance Today we are celebrating Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day, which is the first festival of our Telugu calendar and the first big festival that comes after Sankaranti.Our Andhra festival is known by different names in different states of India like “Gudi Padwa” in Maharashtra and “Ugadi” in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In India, Andhra Pradesh ‘Ugadi’ is a festival. People from wide corners, celebrate this festival as a New Year’s Day celebration of Hindus. It is celebrated in Telangana also. In Karnataka, this “Ugadi” festival is also trendy.The same day is celebrated as the New Year by Hindus in various regions of the country. For instance, it is called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. People from Sindh are called Sindhis. They also celebrate a same-day festival called “Chetri Chand” which means the beginning of the new year according to their calendar.On the same day in Manipur, the same day celebration is held by Manipuri’s called “Sajibu Nongma Pānba”. It is also a New Year celebration by their calendar. In Indonesia and Bali, the Hindu people also celebrate the same day festival called “Nyepi”.

Six tastes of life

It is a tasty dish made with a lot of healthy ingredients. The Pachadi has six different tastes assimilated in it- sweet, salty, bitter, tangy, spicy and sour. All of these tastes represents the different facets of life.ach ingredient denotes the six tastes of life:

Sadness – Neem Buds/Flowers for its bitterness

Happiness – Jaggery and ripe banana pieces for sweetness

Anger – Green Chilli/Pepper for its hot tast

Fear – Salt for saltiness

Disgust – Tamarind Juice for its sournes

Surprise – Unripened Mango for its tanginess

Way of Celebration“Yugadi” is a word taken from Sanskrit. The meaning of this word is “ the beginning of a new era “.the decoration of mango leaves on the door is called “Torana” and does mugullus called as Rangolis before the house.It combines all the flavors – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and hot (spicy). In the Telugu and Kannada Hindu traditions, it is a sign that all the flavors of the experience to use in the coming New Year and more. 

The people clean houses and they go to the temple and praying for a prosperous life. People of these states celebrated this festival with their friends and relatives, friend and family by giving each other gifts, clothes, and many decorative items, etc. In Karnataka, the festival is celebrated for ages.Yugadi or Ugadi is the first day of the “Chaitra Purification Padaayami” or the bright half of the Chaitra of the Indian month. The houses were well cleaned. For the festival, people buy new clothes, clothes, and new things and decorate their homes with fresh mango leaves. 

Mango leaves and coconut are considered sacred in the Hindu tradition and are used in Ugadi. People clean the front of their house with water and then make colorful floral designs. People pray in temples. During this festival, people make Hindu meals with tamarind paste, neem flowers, brown sugar or sweet jaggery, salt and sometimes mangoes. It is a symbolic reminder of the multiple stages of life that people expect it in the New Year.

The doorways of our homes are adorned with mango leaves which signifies prosperity and general well-being.But the most unique and significant tradition of Ugadi is beginning the new year with savoring a unique flavored pachadi (chutney) that epitomizes the spirit of Ugadi called "Ugadi Pachadi",with sweet,sour,pungent and bitter tastes (shadhruchulu or six tastes). 

Dishes made during the festive day

They prepare special foods with the use of raw mango like papppu maamidikaaya,pulihora,bobattulu,garellumaamidi pulihora and maamidi kobari pachadi

 Nutritional Information

Neem:

Neem helps to treat various skin infections, malaria, viral fever and diabetes.It also kills intestinal parasites.

Raw Mango:

It provides relief from acidity and chest burn and improves the elasticity of blood vessel

Jaggery:

It detoxifies the liver by flushing out harmful toxins from the body. It is loaded with anti oxidants selenium and zinc, which prevents the free radical damage and fights against infections.

Tamarind:

It reduces inflammation throughout the body, improves skin condition and lowers cholesterol.

Prep  time	Cooking time	Serves
15 mins	10 mins	2 persons

Recipe Course:  Chutney varieties

Cuisine: Andhra cuisine 

Ingredients Jaggery -3 tbsp. Tamarind pulp -1 tbsp. Raw mango pieces -2 tbsp. Neem flowers -1 tbsp. Red chilli powder or pepper powder -2 tsp Salt –to taste Water -1.5 cups

Ingredients of Andhra Ugadi Pachadi represent following Emotions

·        Jaggery And Banana Pieces – Sweetness – Happiness

·        Tamarind – Sour – Disgust

·        Raw Mango – Tang – Surprise

·        Neem Flowers – Bitterness – Sadness

·        Red chilies or pepper powder – Hot – Anger

·        Salt – Salty – Fear

How to make ugadi pachadi

1. Separate the neem flowers from the leaf and keep aside

2.Keep all the ingredients ready

3. The tamarind is soaked in warm water till it softens.Keep all the ingredients ready.

4.Add the jaggery to another one cup of water and wait till it melts and strain and keep aside.Combine both waters and start the procedure

5.First add the raw mango pieces to the tamarind water. Each home has its own version of preparing the ugadi pachadi but the main ingredients (reflecting all the six flavors).

6.Take this neem flower and add it to the tamarind and mango water. 

7.Now add chilli powder and Mix well.Finally add salt 

8.Enjoy the Ugadi Pachadi.

Notes

You can also add small pieces of sugarcane, pieces of ripe banana,putanaala pappu(roasted channa dal) along with the above ingredients

The flavors of the Ugadi Pachadi signifies that the mixture of bitter margosa flowers and sweet jaggery reflect the myriad facets of life, both joy and sorrow and prepares one to face both good and bad in the year to come.