215) KARAATHYA GOONE

KARAATHYA GOONE

A MILD BITTER GOURD CURRY

A KONKANI SIDE DISH

Ingredients:

     1)    Bitter gourd – 150 gm.

     2)    Taro (rhizomes of elephant ear plant called ‘chèmbe’ in Malayalam and ‘Monday’ in Konkani) – 350        gm.

     3)    Potato – 250 gm.

     4)    Mature cucumber tree fruit – 3 Nos.

     5)    Cowpea beans – 4 Nos.

     6)    Medium hot green chilies – 4 Nos.

     7)    Big coconut – 1

     8)    Asafoetida powder – ¼ teaspoon

     9)    Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

To Prepare:

          Split the bitter gourd and discard the seed core. Chop roughly to 1 inch size pieces. Peel the taro and the potato and dice roughly into pieces of around the same size. Remove the stem tips of the cucumber tree fruit. Cut lengthwise into halves, then again into quarters. Split the green chilies lengthwise on one side.

          Discard the tips of the cowpea beans and break into 1½ inch long pieces. Grate the coconut and collect the three milks as detailed in my ‘valval’ recipe (by the way, have you tried valval yet? Be sure to cook valval, one of my most delicious recipes ever!).

To Cook:

          Put all the prepared vegetables together with the green chilies (ingredients Nos. 1 to 6) into a pressure cooker. Pour in the second and third (thinner) coconut milks. Tip in the salt and close the lid. Set on high heat. As soon as you hear the first whistle, turn down the heat and cook for 4 minutes. Switch off the heat and let cool naturally.

          Do not cool the cooker in a hurry by pouring cold water or by lifting up the steam weight, for the cooking process continues inside till all the steam has subsided. Now open the lid and pour the contents into a curry vessel. Set on high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, pour in the first (thick) coconut milk. When it is about to boil again, sprinkle the asafoetida powder, stir and switch off the heat. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Your karaathya goone is ready to serve. Serve as a side dish to rice.

Note:

          Not everybody likes karaathya goone. Kids generally shy away from it. However, for older people, especially for bitter gourd lovers, karaathya goone is heaven.