Farm Fresh Fenugreek leaves with Bottle Gourd – When Simplicity Wins Recipe
‘With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy’ ~ Lope De Vega. And now with my garden not in good shape I no longer live without envying my friend who has a sprawling garden to boast. She inquired about some garden supplies for her farm house which she could purchase on line without much fuss. After a few days of Google search I found out OLX which is a free online platform for classifieds. She was able to access the site from her mobile and could find out what she was looking for in her city with ease. She procured some rare hybrid seeds, organic manure, organic soil and many other useful gardening equipment she was looking for through OLX. In the bargain I found out a wonderful online resource to look out for buying and selling various products in my city.
Some days back when she presented me a few bundles of fresh green fenugreek and a couple of veggies from her farm this is what I cooked. Just as the Khichdi recipe in the previous post there is nothing spectacular in this recipe also, it has the least ingredients and cooks quickly.
But if you enjoy the freshness in your veggies and appreciate the natural flavors of vegetables rather than the overpowering spices in your curries than this is the recipe for you!
Though the recipe is quite simple in itself, the most important thing to take care about is the cooking time which can mar or enhance the taste of the curry.
Ingredients;
(serves 2)
- 2 cups of diced Bottle gourd
- 2 cups of fresh Fenugreek leaves
- 1 small onion
- 1 green chili
- 2 garlic pearls
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- Salt as desired
A pinch of asafoetida powder
Method; Peel and dice bottle gourd (Lauki) in bite size pieces, larger the better as it will retain the nutrients of the veggie. Pick the fenugreek leaves (Methi) removing the hard stalk from it. Wash and shred it slightly. Peel and chop the onion & garlic pearl.
Heat oil in a wok and add the green chili, asafoetida powder, garlic and chopped onion, saute for a minute. Add the diced bottle gourd and cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Add shredded fenugreek leaves, salt and cook for one minute.
Take off from heat and serve this simple yet flavorful veggie dish hot with Indian flat breads, plain rice or just as a snack. Yes I like to eat it plain without any accompaniment.
This is another version of the same recipe replacing bottle gourd with cassava (is the same as Tapioca with which we make chips) and potato. Use pre boiled potato in the recipe, cassava takes less time to cook.
Though I make this recipe with various alterations, my favorite is fenugreek leaves with bottle gourd. The juicy and succulent bottle gourd matches perfectly with the slightly bitter tasting fenugreek leaves. And yes I don’t forget to share my preparation with my friend, just to ensure a regular supply of such farm fresh products
Notes;
Make sure you don’t over cook the veggies, as it will alter the taste by reducing the flavors and juices of veggies.
I have tried the same replacing fenugreek leaves with spinach too, but nothing can match the taste of the former.
When picking the fenugreek leave make sure to leave a little of tender stalk which has all the juices to make the recipe more scrumptious.
Doesn’t such simple recipes make our lives easy, I love to find out and treasure these recipes from wherever I can. Recipes which could make me slog less but give great results both in terms of taste as well as health. In my recent preparation I used a secret ingredient to make the same, will post the it in coming post