Bittergourd Thoran

 Funny how I find the bitter gourd in Kerala far superior in taste and appearance in comparison to the ones we get in Chennai. I've made this thoran several times but it always tastes nicer when I make them with the gourd from Kerala.

Has to do with the soil, the manure...beats me! Anyway, both of us love this thoran, the husband and I that is! Of course mine is an acquired one as the bitterness does get to me at times!

Once you get the gourd, split it and removed the fibrous insides along with the seeds if any. The finer you chop them, the tastier the thoran. But for me I lack that finesse in chopping. So mine are more or less medium fine. Once chopped neatly combine them with grated coconut, finely chopped onion, split green chilly, a tsp. of cumin seeds, turmeric powder and salt.

In a heated sauce pan, drizzle in some oil, let the mustard crackle in that oil, add two broken dry red chillies and then add this combined mixture. Allow it to cook under a lid. Add a tinge of water to hasten the cooking process.

Once the veggie is cooked, it softens, remove the lid and then allow it to dry out in the pan. The pavakka thoran is done.

We had this with some red rice, mampazha puliserrry(mango curd based dish) and some Kerala chicken fry...just take a look at the two pics that follow. It is something most of us would drool over when we see them in shops or get the aroma of chicken frying.

 Earlier on one would not find such copious use of chilly flakes, it would be a simple garnish of chilly powder, curry leaves or pepper corns. With all kinds of fusion cooking happening, it was fun to see the amount of chilly flakes on this dish which we had ordered the other day from a place near home.

 I wasn't too fond of the chicken but did enjoy the flakes. It kind of gave a good feel of Pozhicha Kozhi (fried chicken) in the mouth while chewing.