Doodhi Sorekai Carrots VEGGY HALVA

VEGGY HALVA  is a sweet dish.  Veggy Halva is a combination of Bottle gourd (Sorekai), Local Carrots and White Pumpkin. These vegetables are grated and mixed with sugar, milk, ghee and cardamom.

White Pumkin or  Doodhi or boodu kumbala kai (Kannada language) is highly nutritious and it is low in calories and high in vitamins A, C and E. It contains minerals like magnesium, phosphorus and iron. It also lowers the cholesterol, Antidepressant and good for eyes too.
Carrots are notably rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins and dietary fiber. Carrots contain Beta carotene which is powerful and natural anti oxidant and it helps to protect body from any harmful injury.
Bottle gourd or Lauki (Hindi) or Sorekai (in Kannada) has many good qualities. It is good for weight loss. (especially the juice). It helps to reduce the high blood pressure and keeps the heart healthy. The fiber and the minerals in the bottle gourd supports healthy digestion and helps to overcome constipation problems.
Veggy Halva can be prepared for parties, festivals or to celebrate some thing special. It can be eaten at any time of the day too.

Things Needed :
Bottle Gourd : 1/2 Portion.
Carrots : 2 to 3
White pumpkin 1/4 potion of the medim size
Ghee : 1/2 Cup
Sugar : 1 to 1 1/2 cup
Cardamom :  6 to 8 Pods.
Milk Powder : 2 Tablespoons
Cashew Nuts : 2 Tablespoons

Method : 
1. Wash and remove the outer skin of the vegetable and grate it. Keep it aside.

2. Powder the cardamom with a spoon of sugar and keep it aside.

3. Now keep a pan on the fire and heat. Put 1 Teaspoon of ghee and fry cashew nuts and remove the nuts when it turn reddish.

4. Now squeeze out the extra water from pumpkin. Keep the juice aside.
5. Put grated carrots, bottle gourd and pumpkin. Keep the flame medium.

6. Fry them for 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar and stir niely.
7. Put a tablespoon of ghee while stirrring. Stir the mixture till it leaves the sides. Add ghee in between while stirring. (Littlt by little). Continue stirring.
8. Add milk powder and mix it well. When the halwa starts to leave the pan stir for another 2 to 3 minutes and put off the gas. Add the remaining ghee and the fried cashew nuts and mix again.

 9. Shift this sweet Veggy Halwa to the serving bowl.

10. Serve Halwa after dinner or along with breakfast.

Note : You must be very careful while stirring. Do not allow the Halva to get it burnt. Even Bottle gourd also will leave out the its water. You can use this for curry or juice. You can also try this halva in the micro wave oven. Every 2 minutes you need to mix the mixture until its done. You can also use more sugar and ghee if you like. Use of milk powder helps to absorb the moisture. Use of jaggery is optional. Taste may differ. This halva is good for kids.
Time :

Preparation : 20 minutes
Cooking : 25 to 30 minutes
Serves : 6 to 8.

White Pumpkin - Avade Huli

White Pumpkin - Avade ( A kind of bean seed) Huli is a curry and  You can have this with rice, chapati, pooris , Idlies and Dosas.

Things Needed:
White Pumpkin: 3 to 4 cups.( cut into medium size).
Avade Seeds:  1/2 cup
Coconut : 1/2 cup
Tamarind: 1 small ball size.
Toor Daal: 2 Table spoon.
Salt : to taste.
Sambaar Powder : 2 to 3 Tea spoons.
Curry Leaves: 5 to 6
Water : 2 cups.
Jaggery : 1 Table spoon.
Turmeric: a pinch.
Method:
Wash and soak Avade seeds over night or 4 to 5 hours. Cut white pumkin into small pieces.( medium sized). Soak tamarind in hot water for 5 minutes and squeeze out the pulp and keep it aside. Wash and cook toordaal  and Avade seeds for 8 to 10  minutes in pressure cooker and keep it aside. Grind coconut  and samaar powder with little water till paste and keep it aside.

Now take a big pan and put water and bring it to boil. Add pumpkin pieces and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add cooked daal and Avade to it, after the pieces softened. Add tamarind pulp, and jaggery and cook for 1 minutes. Now add salt to it. Add ground coconut mixture to the boiling mixture. Mix well and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add curry leaves to  Avade White Pumpkin Huli and serve with HOT RICE .
Note : You can add spurt mustard and urd daal mixture to Avade - Pumpkin Huli to give more taste. You can also add little ingh to it. Soak ingh in water for 2 minutes and put this into the  Huli.

Sambaar powder: Roast 2 table spoons of Daniya, 1/2 spoon of methi seeds , 6 to 8 red chillies, 1 Tea spoon of channa daal or urd daal and roast one by one. Add jeera at the end. Do not over roast any of the spice.  Ground all roasted items one by one. and dry grind this mixture and use 2 tablespoons of green chillies.
Serves: 4 to 5

Traditional White Pumpkin Huli

READY TO SERVE TRADITIONAL WHITE PUMPKIN HULI  (CURRY)

White Pumpkin is one of the good  vegetable and we Indians use vegetables in our diet.  I have prepared Traditional curry which is very famous in Udipi side. 
White Pumpkin (Ash gourd) is known as boodu kumbala kai in Kannada. 
Let us see some benefits of having White Pumpkin in our diet.
Ash gourd is one of the healthy vegetable and it has got loads of  medicinal and healing properties in it. It reduces the gastric problem. Ash gourd is good for duabetuc patients and people who are suffering from obesity. It has loads of moisture and helps to relief in acidity and peptic ulcers. Ash gourd is rich in Vitamin C. It is full of fiber and good for people who are suffering from constipation. It helps to digest the food easily.
I have just followed my aunt recipe. Ingredients are roasted freshly and then ground with fresh coconut. Toor dal is used to give thickness to the curry. I advice you must try this curry to know the taste.

Ingredients :

Toor Daal : 1/4 cup
White Pumpkin : 1/4 kg
Coriander seeds : 1 Tea spoon
Fenugric seeds ( Mentya or Methi seeds) : 1/4 Tea spoon
Jeera or cummin seeds : 1/4 Tea spoon
Tamrind Pulp: 2 Table spoon
Red chillies : 4 to 6
Asafoetida ; a pinch
Coconut :1/2 cup
Salt : to taste
Curry leaves : 5 to 6 
Jaggery : 1 Table spoon

Ghee: 1 Tea spoon

Water : Required amount of water.

Method :

1. Wash and cut pumpkin . Boil for 5 to 6 minutes. Pressure cook daal and keep it aside.

2. Now dry roast methi ( mentya )till brown, add coriander seeds, red chillies.Roast for 20 seconds and then add jeera. Put off the gas and let the spices cool.

3.Grind roasted spices with coconut and little water till it turns into paste. Soak tamarind in hot water and squeeze out the pulp. Keep it aside.

4.Keep a pan on the fire. Put cooked pumpkin, dal and turmeric powder. Add tamarind pulp and required salt. Mix it well. 

5.Mix ingh in a tea spoon of water and then add it to the boiling mixture.
6.Now add ground coconut spice mixture to dall. . Mix well slowly and let it boil for another 3 to 4 minutes.

7.You can add mustard splutter to the ready curry and shift the curry to a serving bowl. 
8.Serve with hot rice or any main dish you prepared.  Add a spoon of fresh ghee just before serving.

Note :
You can add other vegetables like beans , carrots with pumpkin while boiling . Seasoning the with mustard seeds.

Method for seasoning: 1/4 spoon of mustard and urd daal . 1 spoon of any cooking oil. Curry leaves 4 to 6 . a pinch of ingh.
Heat oil in a pan . Add mustard and urd daal. Let it sprut. Add curry leaves. Add a pinch of ingh and add this to the ready curry.

Time : 30 minutes.
Serves : 4 to 5

White Pumpkin/Ash Gourd Sambaar

White Pumpkin/Kumbala kai/ Doodi or Kumbada/Ash Gourd is one of the best healthy vegetable. It is available in most of the time around the year.
I have prepared saambar/curry with Ash gourd, toor dal and spicy saambar powder which is prepared at home.

Lets see some benefits of using Ash Gourd in our diet.
Ash gourd is said to be packed with nutrition. It is loaded with Vitamin B 1. Vitamin B 3 and Vitamin C. It is full of minerals like calcium, potassium and it helps to maintain a healthy blood pressure level. Ash gourd juice is used like a common tonic because of its healthy qualities. Ash gourd works as cooling agent to our body. They have good amount of fiber and good for digestive system. They are the best remedy for constipation. Ash gourd juice is used for home cure for peptic ulcer. They can be used for dealing diabetes. In Ayurveda the fruit is used for astama , coughs, urine retention and internal hemorrhage. The rind is good for diabetes and seeds are good to remove tapeworms. Ash gourd juice is used for mercury poisoning and snake bites in Ayurveda. White Pumpkin is low in calories and it is good for treating obesity.
White Pumpkin Saambar has no onion or no garlic. It is also one of the traditional dish, we say it as bolu huli since no coconut is used and goes well with idli, dosa, chapatis, plain rice and rotis.
Lets see the recipe now :

Ingredients :

To Cook :
Toor dal : 1/2 Cup
Ash gourd pieces : 1 Big bowl. (1/4 Kg)
To Add :
Sambar Powder/ Rasam Powder : 3 to 4 Teaspoons
Tamarind : Small marble size
Salt : As required
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Coriander leaves : 2 Tablespoons
Seasoning : 
Mustard seeds : 1/2 Teaspoon
Urid dal : 1/2 Teaspoon
Ingh : a pinch
Curry leaves :  6 to 8 leaves
Oil : 1 Teaspoon

Method :

1. Wash pumpkin and remove the outer skin and cut it into pieces according to your wish .
2. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes with little water till they turn soft. Keep it aside.

3. Wash and pressure cook toor dal with little water and leave it for cooling.
4. Soak tamarind in hot water and squeeze out the pulp and keep the pulp aside.
5. Keep a big bowl on the fire. Heat. Add oil and mustard seeds.
6. Add urid dal. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add curry leaves and ingh.
7. Add cooked white pumpkin pieces, cooked dal and salt. Mix it well.

8. Add turmeric powder and tamarind pulp. Mix it well and let it cook for 2 minutes.
9. Now add sambar powder/rasam powder and mix it nicely and slowly.

10. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Shift the ready curry to a serving bowl.
11. Add cut coriander leaves and mix it well.

12. Add a spoon of ghee before serving and serve with the main dish you have prepared.

Note :

Use of dal is optional. Toor dal/ Moong dal. I have used toor dal. Adding sambar/rasam powder is also optional. You can use any brand of powder. Make sure it taste good. (do not add the old powder). Adding a green chilly gives good aroma to the curry. Adding extra ghee to the curry is optional. (According to me adding ghee to the curry adds to the taste). Use of jaggery is also optional. ( I did not use ).
Time : 30 Minutes 
Serves : 3 to 4 





Fresh Sambar powder Recipe : 

Dry roast  1/4 teaspoon of methi seeds, 1 teaspoon of urid/channa dal, 2 tablespoons of daniya/coriander seeds, 5 to 6 red chilly (byadagi) and 1/2 teaspoon of jeera one by one. Add a handful of curry leaves and a pinch of ingh while dry roasting. Dry grind them once the ingredients cools. You will get fresh, aromatic sambar powder.

White Pumpkin Majjige Huli

READY TO SERVE WHITE PUMPKIN ( ASH GOURD ) MAJJIGE HULI

 White Pumpkin  ( Ash gourd) Majjige Huli is a gravy dish.  Butter milk is called as Majjige in Kannada Language. (Karnataka). White Pumpkin is used for different types of curries and sweets. This Majjige huli can be eaten with plain rice, with chapatis, rotis, poori, idli and with Upma (Uppittu) also.
 Lets see some benefits of having " White Pumpkin " in our diet. 
 Ash Gourd or White Pumpkin has known for its medicine values and healing power. It is good for people who are suffering from diabetic.It is low in calories. It acts as a good detoxifying agent. Ash gourd is fiber content and good for constipation and helps in digestion. It is also good for acidity. It is good for common cold. It contain plenty of moisture. It contain protein, carbohydrates and fibre. Ash gourd contain minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron and Vitamin C.

As I said earlier Majjige Huli means the curry made of curd or butter milk.

Ingredients :

White Pumpkin :1/4 kilo
Coconut 1/2 cup
Green chillies : 2 to 3
Curry leaves : 5 to 6
Mustard Seeds : 1/4 tea spoon
Urd Daal 1/4 tea spoon
Jeera  (cumin seeds) : 1/2 Tea spoon
Ingh : a pinch
Oil : 1 Tea spoon
Salt : to taste
Water : 1/2 cup
Curd ( Yogurt ) : 1 Cup
Turmeric powder : a pinch

Method :

1. Wash the vegetable and cut in to pieces. ( according to your wish )
2. Cook with required water till they are soft.

3. Grind coconut with chilly and keep it aside.

4. Keep a pan on the fire and heat. Add oil, mustard seeds, urid dal and little jeera urd daal.
5. Let mustard seeds splutter. Add curry leaves and ingh. Add cooked pumpkin pieces.
6. Add salt and little water. Add turmeric powder. Mix it well.
7. Let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add ground coconut - chilly mixture. Mix it nicely.

8. Cook for 2 minutes. Put off the gas.
9. Shift the curry to 2 bowls.

10. Add a cup of curd to one bowl. (The gravy should be warm not very hot). Mix it well.

11. Add coriander leaves to both the bowls. Serve with the main dish.

Note :

Do not over cook the vegetable. You can also use little jeera, ginger and green chilly to grind. I ground green chilly along with coconut. You can also add a spoon of fresh coconut oil to the curry. Do not add curd when the curry is too hot. It may curdle and will not look nice and taste good. It turns savoury soon too. Adding 1/2 spoon of moong dal or channa  dal helps to thicken the curry. You can cut green chilly and cook it along with white pumpkin pieces. ( I ground green chilly and coconut together).
Time : 20 minutes.
Servings : 3.