Thora kirugarudhiya ( yellow curry with sponge gourd)

 Sponge gourd is very similar to the zucchini although the inside is softer. When picking sponge gourd always buy the soft ones rather than the firm ones as these are turning into loofahs. Grown locally it's an easy vegetable to cook and also can be peeled, cut into rounds, and stored in the freezer. 

Locally it's used to make curries, mas huni, and salads. 

One of my favourite ways to use them is to make kirugarudhiya , a simple yellow curry using just turmeric as a spice and the remaining flavours come from the onions, chillies, garlic, curry leaves, and coconut milk.  Unlike other versions of this curry use less thin coconut milk during the first cooking time as the "thora" releases a lot of water while cooking so if you add too much liquid when cooking it tends to become too thin and not very pleasant to eat. 

A souring ingredient is a must, usually in the form of bilimbi or green mango. If not available can squeeze some lime juice in the end of the cooking time. But please don't use tomatoes. I don't know why have come across one recipe where tomato is used.

Anyway for this recipe,  apart from thora, there is onions, garlic, smoked tuna, bilimbi, chillies, curry leaves and pandan leaves. And of course turmeric and coconut milk. To make this completely vegetarian you can leave the tuna out.  If you are living abroad and can't get one of these gourds, substitute with ridge gourd which you might find in Asian or Indian speciality shops. 

Yield: 4

Author: Nammi

Print

Thora Kirugarudhiya

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

• 250g Thora ( sponge gourd), thats about 1 large gourd
• 1 onion, medium, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4-5 billimbi or 1/2 lime
• 10 curry leaf
• 12-inch pandan leaf, cut into large pieces
• 400 ml coconut milk ( thin milk ), see notes below
• 1/3 cup thick coconut milk ( see notes below)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 small fillet, of smoked tuna, thinly sliced
• 3 green chillies, slit , lengthwise
• salt

Instructions:

1. Peel and slice the thora into rounds, 1 cm thick. 
2. Place in a small pot, add sliced onions, sliced garlic, chillies, smoked tuna, curry leaves and pandan leaves. Add in bilimbi if using.
3. Pour in thin coconut milk, ( remember thora releases a lot of water ) add half a teaspoon of salt along with turmeric and then place on medium heat and cook. Once it starts to show bubbles, lower heat and simmer for about 10- 15 minutes. 
4. Stir in thick coconut milk,  simmer for 2 more minutes, taste adjust salt and switch off.
5. {Squeeze in  a little lime juice ( not the whole half) if you don't have bilimbi, stir and switch off]
6. Serve with plain cooked rice, some theluli bandaidhoo  ( recipe is in the blog) and salad

Notes:

I usually use packed coconut milk, if using packed or canned coconut milk, for thin milk mix 1/4 cup of packed milk with 250 ml of water, stir and use. If using powdered coconut milk, use 3 tbsp stirred into 400 ml of water. For thick milk: when using liquid-packed or canned milk just straight from the packet. If using powdered milk, make thick milk by mixing 2tbsp of coconut milk in 1/3 cup of water

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @chilliesandlime on instagram and hashtag it #chilliesandlimeblog

Created using The Recipes Generator