Beerakaya - mullakada palu posina kura (Ridge gourd-drumsticks cooked in milk)

Todays version of beerakaya/Ridge gourd curry is very simple and easy to cook. Drumsticks cooked in milk tastes yummy. I simply love the mild sweet flavor of this veggie when cooked in milk. This was one of the curry I loved since childhood and never made any fuss when it was cooked at home. In india this curry is cooked with lots of garlic and served for breast feeding mothers. Lets jump to the recipe.......

What we need ...

Beerakaya/Ridge gourd - 2

Drumsticks/mullakada - 1 (cut into 2 inch pieces)

Garlic - 6 cloves (crushed)

Green chilies - 2 (Slit lengthwise)

Dried Red chilies - 5

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Coriander leaves - small bunch (finely chopped)

Cumin seeds/jeera - 1/2 tsp

Onions - 4 medium or1 large onion sized finely chopped

Milk - 1/2 cup

Oil - 2 tbsps

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

How to...

1. Wash and peel the ridge gourd and hey don't throw away the peeled skin. Scraped of skin combined with pea nuts added with few more ingredients, a delicious chutney is ready. I'm gonna post that recipe soon.

2. Heat oil in a kadhai, and throw garlic. Fry till light brown. Add curry leaves and fry for 10 seconds.

3. Add green chilies, red chillies and fry for a minute. Add cumin seeds and fry for another minute on medium flame. Throw in the onions, add salt and turmeric and fry till onions are soft and light brown.

4. Throw in the chopped onions, drumsticks, add turmeric, drumstick and fry them till light golden brown.


5. Add in ridge gourd pices, mix gently. cover and cook till soft on medium flame. About 6 to 8 minutes.

6. Add warm milk to cooked ridge gourd. Milk tends to curdle up if its cold, warm milk does the trick here. Cook till the milk evaporates and curry truns to thick gravy base.

7. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with steamed rice/chapathis. Tastes perfect with steamed rice.

Note : The Onions that I get from the stores here are very big. I usually take care of giving an accurate measurement for the number of onions used in the posts that I blog but request the viewers to increase or decrease the quantity according to the gravy required.

On the same note I'd like to add that a cup when I write in the blog is generally 1 measuring cup. Pls drop a note to mommyskitchen@gmail.com if you have any questions while trying the recipe. I'd be happy to help you.