Sauteed bottle gourd is crushed with chilies, tomatoes and spices, finished off with a tempering to make a delicious side dish. Serve with hot rice and ghee, dosa, roti and chapati.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 1 · 1 cup
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • 2 cups bottle gourd (peeled and cubed)
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves (or a thin slice of peeled ginger)
  • 2 teaspoons chana dal
  • 2 teaspoons urad dal
  • 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds ((omit if you don't have))
  • ½ to ¾ cup tomatoes ((omit if you don't prefer))
  • 2 dried red chilies
  • 3 green chilies (or replace with red chilies)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon salt ((adjust to taste))
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon Tamarind paste ((adjust as needed, cut down if using concentrate))
  • 2 teaspoon Oil
  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic (, crushed)
  • 1 dried red chili (,broken)
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon urad dal (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
  • 1 pinch hing (optional)
  • 1 sprig curry leaves ((pat dry))

Method

  1. Wash bottle gourd under running water. Peel and chop to bite sized pieces.
  2. Heat a pan and dry roast red chilies, chana dal and urad dal till light golden and aromatic. Add sesame seeds and cumin. Roast until the sesame seeds begin to splutter. Remove to a plate to cool down.
  3. Heat oil in the same pan. Fry garlic and green chilies until blistered. Remove to a plate. Add bottle gourd, tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Saute for 3 to 4 mins on a high heat and cook covered until the gourd is tender. Cool down.
  4. Meanwhile powder the roasted lentils to a fine powder and add the bottle gourd mixture, green chilies and garlic. Make a coarse paste.
  5. Heat oil to temper in the same pan. Add mustard, cumin, urad dal, crushed garlic, red chilies and curry leaves. Let fry until the dal turns golden.
  6. Turn off and add the hing, tamarind paste and sorakaya pachadi. Mix well and taste test to add more salt or tamarind paste.
  7. Serve sorakaya pachadi with hot rice and ghee. It also goes well with roti, chapati or dosa.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.