Ridge-gourd Garlic curry

This recipe was contributed by my friend, Pujita

You will need these ingredients:

Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 chopped
Ridge gourd - 2 cut into small pieces
Garlic - 5 pods
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard.
3. Add onions, green chillies and curry leaf and saute this until the onions are done.
4. Add in the ridge gourd pieces, the salt and turmeric.
(Make sure that you do not add more salt because the ridge gourd pieces almost become half the quantity when cooked)
5. Lower the flame, cover the pan and simmer for about 10 mins. Stir the mixture ocassionally.
(No water is required as there is sufficient water cmng out of ridge gourd).
6. Grind the coconut and garlic into a fine paste using little water.
7. Once the ridge gourd is soft, add the coconut-garlic paste to it and mix well.
8. If more salt is required, add it at this stage.
9. Keep stirring on medium flame till most of the water evaporates.
10. Once done, remove from the flame and serve hot with rotis or as a side dish with rice.

NOTE: If you who dont like the taste of garlic, you can reduce the number of garlic pods and use more coconut . Garlic pods give a delicious smell to the curry.