Bottlegourd Cowpea Curry – Suraikai Thattapayaru Kuzhambu

Cooking The Cowpea
We will be using brown cowpea for this recipe. The white ones doesnt work well for this recipe. Wash and soak the cowpea for one hour. After soaking the cowpea for the said time, drain the water and add it to a pressure cooker. Add 1/2 teaspoon of rock salt and 1.5 cups of water to the cooker. Cover the cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles. It will take about 10-12 minutes. Let the pressure settle before opening.

Prepping Bottlegourd
Wash and peel the bottle gourd. Cut the gourd into quarter and remove the soft seedy part in the middle. Discard the soft part. Dice the bottlegourd and set aside.

Prepping Tamarind
Soak the tamarind in hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the pulp. Discard the seeds and the pith. Set aside.

Masala Paste
Add sesame oil to a pan. Add in the cumin seeds and the fennel seeds. Add in the country garlic and the Indian shallots. If you cannot source country garlic (small garlic), you can use regular garlic. Add in the curry leaves. Saute for a couple of minutes till the onions are soft and starting to brown.
Add in the chopped tomatoes and the rock salt. Mix well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Once the tomatoes are mushy, add in the coconut and the cooked cowpea. The cooked cowpea when ground will make for a velvety curry.

Grind the mixture to a fine paste. You can add little water while grinding. Make sure that the masala is ground to a fine paste.

Making The Curry
Heat 2 tablespoon of Indian sesame oil in a clay pot. Add in the fenugreek seeds, vadagam, and dried red chillies. Add in the curry leaves. Add in the Indian shallots and sauté everything for couple of minutes. If you cannot source vadagam, just add half a teaspoon of mustard seeds and proceed with the recipe. But vadagam gives a fantastic aroma and taste to the kuzhambu. You can source them easily online and I have provided the links for the same above.

Add in the turmeric powder, Kuzhambu milagai powder, coriander powder and asafoetida. Roast the dry masalas for a few seconds. Do not roast for long as the masalas will burn.

Add in the tamarind pulp to the pot. Add in the bottle gourd and mix well. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes till the bottle gourd is cooked tender. Feel free to add little water mid way while the bottle gourd is cooking. Add upto a cup of water for cooking the bottle gourd.

Add in the ground masala. Wash the mixie with a cup of water and add it back to the pot. Add jaggery. Cover the pan with a lid and let the curry simmer for five minutes.

Finally finish the curry by adding a tablespoon of Indian sesame oil. Serve hot with rice.