Usually I make Chow chow kootu and poriyal as side dish for rice Or I make sambar for rice adding chow chow. As I bored of making the same recipes with chow chow, I was looking for a change from these usual stuffs. I found this interesting chow chow kuzhambu and tried it for our lunch. It tastes more like kurma kuzhambu as it has spices like cinnamon and cloves. I loved its flavor. I mixed with plain rice adding a dash of ghee and enjoyed it.

Chow chow kuzhambu recipe

Chow chow kuzhambu recipe for rice, idli, dosa and chapathi

1. Wash and peel the skin of chow chow and chop into cubes.
2. In a kadai, dry roast the coriander seeds, red chilli, cumin seeds, pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Remove and grind to a coarse powder adding grated coconut.
3. Lastly add one chopped tomato and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, cumin seeds, curry leaves and hing.
5. Add onion and saute for few minutes. Add the chopped chow chow pieces, turmeric powder, salt and saute well.
6. Add the ground tomato masala paste and saute for a minute. Add required water. Mix well, check for taste and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.
7. Remove after the pressure is released naturally. Oil floating chow chow kuzhambu will be ready.
8. Check for consistency and boil more if watery.
9. Lastly garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice, idli, dosa and chapathi. Enjoy !

Wash and peel the skin of chayote/ chow chow and chop into cubes. Set aside. In a kadai, dry roast coriander seeds, red chilli, cumin seeds, pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Remove and grind to a coarse powder adding grated coconut. Add chopped tomato and grind to a smooth paste adding required water. Set aside.   Heat oil in a pressure cooker base. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal , hing, curry leaves. Add finely chopped onion and saute till transparent. Add chopped chow chow pieces. Saute for a minute. Add the ground masala paste and saute for few minutes. Add required water, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and check for taste. If required, add salt and red chilli powder. Close the lid and pressure cook in low flame for one whistle. Switch off the flame. Open the cooker once the pressure releases naturally. Once you open the cooker, you can see a layer of oil floating on top. Check for consistency. Add water if its too thick. If its watery, boil for few minutes till you get desired consistency. Lastly garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve with rice. If you are serving for chapathi, make this kuzhambu thick like kurma and serve it. Enjoy !

Note

Add more red chillies while roasting for spicy taste. Adjust the consistency of this gravy as per your requirement. If you are serving for rice, idli, dosa, make it semi thick. If its for chapathi, make it thick.

I love to try varieties of recipes with bitter gourd. Iam trying to include Pavakkai in my cooking at least once or twice in a week considering its health benefits. My daughter Raksha likes to eat bitter gourd only if its bitterness is less or it should be in deep fried form like bitter gourd chips with wheat flour. But I want to avoid making deep fried stuffs often. So I started exploring many side dishes using bitter gourd.

Pavakkai poriyal recipe / Bitter gourd curry

Pavakkai poriyal recipe / Bitter gourd curry for rice

1. Wash and chop bitter gourd into thin slices. Chop onion and garlic thinly.
2. Heat oil in a cooker. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and hing.
3. Add curry leaves, onion and crushed garlic cloves. Saute well.
4. Add chopped bitter gourd and saute for few minutes till it shrinks in size.
5. Lower the flame and add sambar powder, turmeric powder, jaggery and salt.
6. Mix well and add required water. Pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.
7. Open the cooker after the steam is released. If there is excess water, boil in high flame till water evaporates. Mix gently and transfer to a plate.
8. Serve with sambar, rasam rice and curd rice.

Wash and chop Bitter gourd into thin slices. Chopping thinly helps to remove bitterness. Wash and chop onion. Crush garlic cloves. Set aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, cumin seeds, curry leaves, crushed garlic and sliced onion. Saute till onion becomes transparent. Now add the thinly sliced bitter gourd and saute for a minute. Add turmeric powder, salt and sugar/ jaggery. Mix well. Adding turmeric powder helps to retain bright green color of bitter gourd. Add 1/4 cup of tamarind extract, sambar powder and mix well. Lastly add little water ( say 2 tbsp) and close the pressure cooker with its lid. Let the flame be high. Once the steam starts to come out, lower the flame completely and put the weight valve. Let it cook in low flame for one whistle. Switch off the flame and let the pressure release naturally. Open the cooker and add finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix gently. Boil for few minutes if there is excess water. If there is no water, you can just mix and serve with rice. Tastes good with sambar, vatha kuzhambu, kara kulambu and curd rice.

Note

Slice the bitter gourd thinly to avoid bitter taste. Adjust the quantity of sambar powder as per your taste.