I went to the store recently and spotted this and said, oh my God how am I going to make this? I never even had winter melon before and wanted to know how it tastes. So I took it home and I did my reserch on how to make this vegetable.
However I did some reserch on my pins that I have for ash gourd. The reserch I gathered said it is also called ash gourd on Google. I checked my Pinterest to see what would draw inspiration for me then a light bulb went off in my head that would never leave. The following recipe is what I came up with and it is totally off of my head.
I did all of this prepping before I did the cooking. I cut the winter melon in to bite size pieces which gave me a 2 cup yield. In my mortar and pestle I added 1 pinch each of black peppercorns and coriander seeds which are unroasted with 1 pinch each of masoor ki dal, chana ki dal and moong ki dal I had roasted in a wok on high flame until they changed color a little bit. I added them to the mortar and pestle with 1 pinch each of unroasted black peppercorns and corriander seeds and ground them in to a powder then set it aside.
In a pot I added 1/4 cup of olive oil and turned it on on high heat. I added 1 pinch each of hing, fenugreek seeds, caraway seeds and mustard seeds with 4 curry leaves in to the oil. I watched the seeds crackle then added 1 onion or shallot I sliced in to half moon slices. I added 1 pinch of pink salt and caramelized the onion.
I added 1 pinch each of paprika, turmeric, desiccated or grated coconut with the contents of the mortar and pestle in to the pot. I stirred and would add either 1 dried of fresh chili which could be either red or green. I ended up using a red jalapeno and frying it in the oil mixture. I added 2 cloves of garlic and 1 small piece of ginger that I peeled and cleaned then crushed it in my mortar and pestle. I added this to the pot with 1 small marble size of tamarind and 1 tomato. I turned the heat down to low and cooked the tomato until it was a mushy consistancy.
At the mushy state the curry forms and I added the winter melon chunks and stirred. I added 2 cups of water and placed the lid over the pot for 20 minutes or until it is soft meaning that it is done.
Please leave me the comments and tell me what you think? I want to hear your feedback.
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