Ridgegourd bhajis/ Peerkangai bhajis

Many of you must have tried bhajis with different vegetables like potato, onion,brinjal or plantain. How about ridge gourd for a change ? This veggie is a little sweet by nature and it turns really soft when fried like this. It's a great evening snack and one medium size ridge gourd can be finished just like that when prepared this way. It can be served with any chutney of your choice or can skip all the work and serve it with ketchup like me. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:
ridgegourd- 1 medium size
besan flour- 1 cup
rice flour- 1/4 up
salt- as reqd
chilli powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
hing- 1/4 tsp
water- 1/2 cup

Procedure:
Scrap off the skin from ridgegourd and cut into medium size rounds. Combine the rest of the ingredients well. First mix the dry ingredients evenly and then add water. The batter should be a little thick. Heat oil in kadai. Dip the vegetable one by one and drop it in the hot oil. Turn after a few minutes and remove when you get a nice golden color.

Peerkangai / Ridgegourd Sambar

Sambar is a very common dish in south-india. But no two sambars are the same. Each and every household does it in a certain way that the taste turns out unique. Here is the simplest way to do sambar.

Ingredients:
cooked toor dal - 1 1/2 cups
onion- 1 (medium, sliced)
Peerkangai- 1 (skin removed, round slices)
hing-1/4 tsp
tomato -1
tamarind paste- 1 1/2 tsp
sambar powder - 2 tsp
curry leaves
corriander leaves

Procedure:
Heat oil and season with mustard seeds, vendhayam and jeera seeds. fry onions until soft. Add turmeric, tomatoes, Peerkangai and salt. When the vegetable is 1/4 th cooked , add tamarind paste, sambar powder, hing and curry leaves. cover and boil for some time. Then add cooked toor dal and boil for 5-10 mins. Serve on a bed of rice with any curry.