Round Gourd with Potato in Chili Flakes

This time it’s another veggie meal. I have posted before some recipes about round gourd or what we call in tagalog as Upo. This dish that I wanted to share with you is from India since it needs to include some spices like chili, mustard seed and cumin powder. It is just easy to prepare especially if you’re in a quick mode to prepare a meal for lunch or for dinner.

Round Gourd with Potatoes in Chili Flakes, garnished with fresh coriander


I have never eaten round gourd with potatoes before. It was my first time to try this recipe and for me, it is just fine since it does not complicate the taste. Round gourd is watery unlike potatoes; it absorbs water so I guess these two veggies are good to combine. You can’t go wrong with it if you wanted to sauté it with fried fish for this meal. But since I don’t have fish in stock, I did not include any but still it taste great so without further due, here is the recipe for cooking Round gourd with potato in Chili flakes.

Ingredients:

Round gourd (cut into bigger chunks)
Potato (1 medium size and cut into quarter size)
Onion (chopped)
Mustard seeds
Cumin powder
Ginger-garlic paste
Tomatoes (medium size, chopped)
Turmeric powder
Curry leaves (5-6 pieces)
Fresh coriander leaves (for garnishing)
Salt
Water
Chili powder
Chili flakes
Vegetable oil

Preparation/ Methods on Cooking Round Gourd with Potato in Chili Flakes:

Step 1: On a pan heat oil and put the mustard seed. Once it crackles you can now put half a teaspoon of cumin powder.

Step 2: Next you need to put the onions and put salt into it so that it can easily fry. After this you can now put a pinch of turmeric powder and one teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste. Stir well so that it won’t stick at the bottom of the pan. When your onion is already light brown in color, you can now put your chopped tomatoes.

Step 3: If the tomatoes are already mashed a bit, you can now add your curry leaves and half a teaspoon of chili powder. After this you can now put the round gourd and potatoes together and stir it carefully so that the ingredients are all mixed well.

Step 4: Sprinkle some chili flakes as you add about one cup of water. Put the flame into medium heat and simmer the veggies for 2 minutes. Check the taste if it needs more salt. If the veggies are not yet done, wait for additional 4 minutes and don’t overcook your round gourd.


Step 5: Garnish with fresh coriander leaves to make it more appealing. You can also include fried fish for this recipe right after you simmer your round gourd and potatoes with water. Serve hot with rice and with any fried meat or fish. I do hope you enjoy and try this delightful meal.