Ingredients:

Preparations:

Wash & soak bengal gram in water for an hour. Wash and cut tomatoes into big pieces. Wash and cut ash gourd and bottle gourd into medium sized pieces removing the portion surrounding the seeds. Wash and cut pumpkin into medium sized pieces. Do not remove the skin for any vegetable. Cut them with their skins on. Or else remove the peels and grind them along with the other ingredients while preparing the paste.

Take a microwave safe bowl and add ash gourd and bottle gourd pieces and add 50 ml water. Place this bowl in oven and cover it partially. Cook on high power for 5 minutes. Stir and add pumpkin pieces and place the bowl in oven & cover it partially. Again cook on high power for 4 minutes. By now the vegetables will be cooked.

Take another microwave safe bowl and add tomato pieces. Place this bowl in oven and cook on high power for 1 ½ minutes. When done keep all the cooked vegetables aside.

Paste Preparation:

First remove the dark brown portion of the coconut with a peeler and cut it into small pieces. Take a mixie jar and add coconut pieces, ash gourd seeds portion, bottle gourd seeds portion, green chilies, ginger, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and soaked bengal gram. Add sufficient water and make a smooth paste in a mixer grinder.

Method:

Churn the sour curd and take this into a deep bowl. Add water while churning if the curd is too thick. Then add salt, turmeric powder, cooked vegetables and the paste. Mix well and check the consistency. Add sufficient water to bring it to right consistency. Check salt and chilies by tasting the mixture and adjust accordingly. Now heat the curd mixture on low flame till the mixture reaches a full boil. Do not stir in between. When the mixture reaches a full boil prepare the seasoning.

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds and black gram. Fry till the seeds start changing color. Then add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and fry till the seeds splutter. Then add curry leaves, asafoetida and red chili pieces and fry well. Add this seasoning to the boiling curd mixture and mix well. Cover the pan for few seconds so that the curd mixture gets the smell of the seasoning. Add some chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Transfer the Pulusu to a serving bowl and garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.

Points to Notice:

This dish tastes good when the curd is sour. The sourer the curd is, the tastier the pulusu will be. When curd is sour to balance it, it will require more chilies and salt.

Vegetables like drum-sticks, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, ash gourd, pumpkin, radish, carrot, okra or lady’s finger and even greens like Malabar spinach taste good with this dish. Use the stems of any green leafy vegetables in this dish.

Do not remove the skins of vegetables used in this dish. As all Vitamins lie just beneath the skin it is advisable to eat them along with the vegetable as they also provide fiber. If you cannot eat it directly, peel the skins and grind them along with the other paste ingredients and cook this dish. Unless you tell, no one can identify what has gone into the paste. I have also ground the seeds of gourds along with the paste ingredients. This way the vegetables look firm & good and we make good use of the seeds.

Gram flour may be replaced for bengal gram to save the soaking time. But using bengal gram gives pulusu a smooth texture.

While cooking the vegetables in microwave oven, the time mentioned for cooking may vary from one oven to other. Just see that the vegetables are cooked. Or else you may cook them separately on a stove top or else you can steam cook the vegetables too.

Grind the paste till you get a smooth texture. There should not be any trace of coconut when you rub the pate between fingers. Then the paste mixes well with the curd.

When you place the bowl of curd mixture on stove do not stir till the mixture reaches a full boil. It will take nearly 20 to 30 minutes to cook slowly.

Serve hot with plain rice and plain dal.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!