Peanut butter Stuffed Ridge gourd

woow.... Peanut butter stuffed RIDGE GOURD...One of MY fav. dish...YUmmmm....The spice mix added a lot of flavor to the ridge gourd & It is a perfect  delicious accompaniment to plain boiled rice and a Daal ..

Here is my take on this recipe:

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd : 3 medium size

Onion  2 nos medium size
peanut butter - 1tblsp

Roasted peanuts- crushed a handful

2tblsp ginger garlic paste

Turmeric  powder 1/2 tsp

Red chili powder 1 tbsp

Garam masala  1 tsp

Cumin & mustard seeds 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves a handful (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

Peel the ridge gourd, cut into 2 inch rounds and make a slits on one side into + shape.

Grind the onions roughly.

Heat a kadai.,Add onion paste & ginger garlic paste sauté for 3-4 min till oil appears in the masala.

Add peanut  powder, red chili powder,turmeric,salt and garam masala into paste without adding any extra water. Mix it well & stir for another 2-3 min. add peanut butter. mix well & Switch off the flame & keep aside. Let it cool in the room temp.

Then Put the masala stuffings to the  ridge gourd pieces ..

Heat a pan add oil when oil becomes hot add cumin & mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves, stuffed ridge gourd pieces and any leftover onion paste.

Cover the pan and cook on medium flame (sprinkle little water if needed) stirring occasionally, until ridge gourd pieces are soft.

Switch off the flame & serve with hot  steamed rice.