Dosakaya paluposina curry

This week end also, I did some back yard cleaning and found some yellow cucumber aka dosakayallu. I have 3 more getting ready to harvest and those will be the last for the season .

This is a summer vegetable which acts as a natural cooling agent. This vegetable can be cooked in different varieties like- dosakaya pappu, dosakaya tomato, dosakaya mulakaya(drumsticks), vankaya dosakaya pachadi, dosavakai etc to name a few. Today I am making a simple and delicious recipe with milk which enhances the taste of this mild flavored vegetable.

Ingredients-

• 1 large dosakaya or 2 medium dosakaya (Indian yellow cucumber)
• 1 small onion (1/2 of a large onion) chopped
• ½ cup milk ( 2% or whole milk anything is fine)
• 1 tsp Salt or according to taste
• 1 tbsp red chili powder  or according to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin, chana dal and urad dal
• 1 or 2 dry red chilies
• 1 sprig curry leaves

dosakaaya peeled and seeded

Directions-

1. Wash and peel dosakaya. Slice into half and taste the seeds and flesh for any bitterness (If the flesh is bitter, discard the dosakaya. If the seeds have bitter taste, peel the membrane that connects the seeds and wash the flesh with water)
2. Chop dosakaya (cucumber) into 1inch pieces.
3. Heat oil in a sauce pan and add mustard seeds, once they splutter add cumin, red chili, urad dal, turmeric and curry leaves.
4. Once all of the above tempering is golden brown, add onions and sauté them till transparent.
5. Add dosakaya pieces and sauté them for 30 sec with out any lid.
6. Add salt, red chili powder and cook it with the lid closed on medium heat. Cover and cook, until done, stirring now and then with out burning or drying the curry.
7. When the cucumber pieces are well cooked (soft to touch) add ½ cup milk, mix gently and cook without lid until the curry is well done to the right consistency.
8. serve with steamed rice and some urad dal vadiyallu or roti

Tip-

We can cook this recipe in a pressure cooker, after step 6, cover the pressure cooked with lid and let it whistle 2 times.

When the pressure is released, open the lid and follow step 7.

dosakaya palu posina kura and urad dal vadiyallu on the side

‘Cucumber’ aka ‘Dosakaya’ is one of my favorite vegetables. The vegetable itself has a sour and sweet taste. What ever way we cook, this vegetable melts in your first bite, leaving you a nice relaxed feeling. Speaking about feelings, once I came across an article that says how each vegetable can change your emotions, it was pretty interesting to read. Cucumber is one of such vegetable that will ease the stress and make you relaxed.

We can make numerous varieties with cucumber (Dosakay), to name a few- Dosakay dal /pappu, Dosakay pachadi, dosakay paaluposi, dosakay tomato pachadi, dosakay pulusu etc..

TIP

If you cannot find Dosakaya ( in US it is hard to find), you can always substitute with the one’s that are available from the same family like cucumber/ Kheera / Keeraa Kaaya. When cooking with kheera, make sure to add lemon at the end. Before switching off the flame, add 1 lemon juice and mix it. Vary the lemon juice according to your taste.

Today I am making a very simple dish out of this vegetable. Simple means less ingredients and easy cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cucumbers peeled and diced ( check the taste of the seeds and the meat as some times they might be bitter. If just the seeds are bitter, you can remove them. If the meat itself is bitter, you should discard it.)
• 2 medium Tomatoes diced
  1 medium Onion diced
• 2 Green chilies slit length wise
• 1 tsp Red chilly Powder
• Salt  as per taste
• Oil  3-4 spoons
• 2 dry red chili
  1 tsp each of Mustard seeds,Cumin,Urad dal, turmeric and Curry leaves.
• Optional,My Secret ingredient tomato ketchup 1 tbsp ( DO NOT use ketcup when cooking with Indian heirloom tomatoes, they already have sour taste. Use ketchup when cooking only with sweet / hybrid tomatoes like Roma tomatoes or any Hybrid variety)

Method

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan and add mustard seeds, once they splutter add cumin, red chili, urad dal, turmeric and curry leaves.
   Once all of the above tempering is golden brown, add onions and green chilies. Tip- add little salt to onions to cook it fast.
2. When the onions are transparent, add chopped tomatoes and fry them till they are soft and mushy.
3. When tomatoes are soft, add ketchup and fry it for a min. Add chopped cucumber and sauté it for a min. Add chili powder and salt according to taste.
4. Sauté till cucumber releases it’s own juice. Now cover the lid and let it cook on medium heat till cucumber is done. ( add little water if required)
5. Enjoy the curry with steamed white rice or roti.

Note- When using pressure cooker, cover the lid after step 3 and let it whistle 2 times. When the pressure is all released, open the lid and cook it to the desired consistency.

It tastes even better with white rice accompained with some urad dal vadiyallu. umm!!! umm!!! delicious.