Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Doi Potol - Pointed Gourd in Curd





It's after almost a year I have cooked potol. The reason behind is in Bangalore, any decent sized potol is hardly available. Whether you buy it from the roadside market in your locality or from any reputed retail chain, potols in large size are nowhere available. As far vegetables are concerned, Kolkata is way better than Bangalore in quality. Kolkata rather West Bengal with all its rivers and humid temperature is naturally congenial for the growth of premium vegetables, and Bangalore flanked by hills has a natural ruggedness not befitting for the same. I didn’t cook potols initially assuming that it was the local market which didn't store good vegetables, but later on, I understood that in Bangalore, I would have to make do with potols not beyond 1 inch in size.

Luckily, this week my husband managed to grab hold of some large size potols, compared to Bangalore standard. The rare 2 inch sized potols encouraged me to cook Doi Potol, a trivial effort to make this a memorable occasion (:p)

Ingredients:

ü  500 gm potols or pointed gourd
ü  1 cup of yogurt
ü  1 tsp ginger paste

ü  1 tsp turmeric powder

ü  1 tsp chilli powder

ü  1 tsp cumin powder

ü  1 tsp coriander powder

ü  1 tsp garam masala

ü  2 tsp sugar

ü  Salt to taste

ü  White oil for cooking

For Saute:

2 bay leaves, 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon stick

Method:

1) Cut the two pointed ends of potol. Scrape the skin off.

2) Rub turmeric and salt on potols. Heat oil in a wok and brown them. Once potols turn brown, take them off the heat and keep aside.

3) Add the ingredients for saute into the same oil and wait for them to crackle.

4) Meanwhile in a separate bowl, with 1 tbs of water combine turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, sugar, salt and ginger paste. Mix them well into a thick paste.

5) Once the ingredients for sauté begin to sputter, add potols and the above spice mixture. Sauté for 6 minutes.

6) Beat the curd well to get a smooth consistency without any lump. Add it to the mixture on oven. Give salt.

7) Cook on low flame for about 10 minutes till potols soften. Drizzle a bit of water if the mixture turns dry.

8) Serve hot with rice, chapati or luchi.

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