The Peerkanga (ridge gourd) is an interesting vegetable. Widely disliked I know but quite the choice of many home cooks across India. I have seen it appear on many people’s plates on the cooking blogs/vlogs/reels, etc. Again, not surprisingly, I love it! But today, I am here to extoll the virtues of this veggie’s peel!! Yes, you heard right. I made a spicy, flavorful thogayal with the ridgegourd’s peel….it was yummycilious! And will stay in the fridge for a long while and be eaten with all kinds of stuff.
Cook and see I say!
Peerkanga Thol Thogayal
Ingredients
- 1 Peerkanga/Turai/Ridge Gourd
- 6 Red chilies
- 4 Green chilies
- 1/4 cup Peanuts
- 1/2 cup dal mix (Mung dal+Tur dal+Chana dal)
- 3 tbsp Urad dal
- 1 tbsp Hing
- 5 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp of Tamarind paste
- Salt to taste
- Cooking oil
Instructions
Peel the peerkanga and keep the peels aside.
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wide pan and add the peels. Saute well till the peels wilt and get soft. Take them out and add them to a blender.
In the same pan, heat 1.5 tbsp of oil and add all the mixed dals and the red chilies and the hing and saute well till the chilies are crisp and the dals are golden brown. Take them all out and add them to the blender.
Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil in the pan and saute the peanuts till they get golden brown. Add them to the blender.
Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in the pan and saute the urad dal till they get golden brown and add just a little bit to the blender. Reserve the rest.
Add the green chilies to the blender and the tamarind paste and salt to taste.
Add a little bit of water and blend everything to a chunky paste.
Take it out in a bowl and mix in the reserved urad dal for added crunch.
Serving: To a plate of hot rice/quinoa, add 2 tbsps of the thogayal, drizzle sesame oil on top, mix well and eat with cold raita!
