On the weekend I had the privilege of cooking with 5 wonderful Goan ladies who just happen to be fantastic cooks. I’ve been eating their food at various family parties for over 15 years but for the first time, had a treat of being in the kitchen with them from start to finish. In the span of 2 hours we made 9 traditional Goan dishes. If you have ever cooked Goan/Indian food, you will know it usually cannot be done quickly. Everything has a process, an order, a methodology. I was fortunate enough to learn some of this in a delightful afternoon. Here’s the recipe for one of the dishes I had never tried before, Ridged Gourd (also called Chinese Okra or Ghosale in Konkani). Amazing, easy and oh so tasty. (As usual, my comments are in italics and in this case, pictures follow).
Ridged Gourd
1 Ridged Gourd, (pictured below on my cutting board) de-ridged, loosely peeled (in other words leave some green on) and cut in 1/2″ cubes
1/2 cup Masoor (red) dahl – rinsed
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp turmeric (a little more if you like the yellow colour and the taste, I do)
Salt to taste
1 tblsp Coconut Oil (can substitute Olive oil or Vegetable oil)
On medium heat, fry the onions in the oil – about 1 minute, add the garlic and stir
Add the dahl and 1 cup water, stir and simmer – this will cook quickly so don’t leave it unattended -about 5 minutes – enough time to de-ridge and cut up the gourd.
Add the turmeric at this stage to get the golden yellow hue
Reduce the heat to medium low – add the gourd, stir and cover note water will come out from the gourd so there is no need to add any water
After about 10 minutes, uncover, add salt – stir, cover and cook a further 10 minutes – if there is too much liquid, leave it uncovered to allow for evaporation
