Curry Powder or Koora Podi

Ingredients:

Oil: 2 tbsp
No salt required

To be roasted without oil

Bengal gram -1cup
Split black gram -1cup
Dry coconut-1/4 th cup

To be roasted in oil:

Red chillies-1 cup, stalks removed
Curry leaves- 1/2 cup
Asafoetida - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1-On a low flame, dry roast the grams, each seperately, to deep brown. Roast the dry coconut without oil until golden brown.
2- Heat oil and roast the chillies on a low flame until crisp and bright red, but not brown,. Remove from oil and set aside. Now roast the cury leaves until crisp and dark green/ Remove from oil and set aside.
3-In the same oil. roast the asfoetida for 10 to 15 seconds and set aside.
4-Grind all these ingredients into a fine powder, cool and store in air tight jar.

Some tips on how to use this Curry powder:

1- Ridge gourd vegetable or Beerakaya koora

Peel ridge gourd and dice into medium sized pieces.
Heat oil and temper with split black gram, mustered seeds, chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida powder.
Add chopped onions and turmeric powder and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the ridge gourd. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add Koora podi, salt and some water and cook till the vegetable is done. You may add dash of roasted and powdered sesame seeds in the end.

Note: Same recipe can be followed using snake gourd or boiled potato

2-Bitter gourd vegetable or Kakarkaya Koora:

Boil chopped bitter gourd along with turmeric powder. Starin. Follow the above ridge gourd recipe.
Make a powder of roasted gram and roasted sesme seeds. Mix this into the vegetable with little jaggery and cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and add dash of lemon juice.

3- Stuffed Bitter Gourds or Kakarkaya Koorina Koora

Scrape and slit the bitter gourds partially. Remove the seeds. Make a mixture of chopped onions, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, koora podi and salt.
Stuff the bitter gourds with this mixture carefully. Roast in oil until bitter gourds are well done.