About the Recipe
The ‘Rai’ group of recipes in Odisha refer to the ones in which the paste of mustard seeds is used in prominence. We presents here one such rai in which ridge gourd (jahni, in Odia) is used. You may replace this with selected other vegetables also.
Ingredients
½ kg ridge gourd (jahni)
1 tablespoon mustard (sorisha)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
5-6 garlic cloves (rasuna kola)
1 tomato – chopped (kata tamatar)
1 onion – chopped (kata piaja)
½ teaspoon red chili powder (lanka gunda)
1 tablespoon refined oil (rifain tela)
salt to taste (luna)
Method
Make a masala paste by grinding mustard, cumin seeds and garlic cloves with a little water in a grinder. Wash and peel the outer skin of ridge-gourd. Cut them into small pieces. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry the chopped onion till it becomes golden-brown. Add the vegetable pieces and stir well. Then add the masala paste and salt to it. Stir well. Cover the pan with a lid and keep it on low flame. When about ¾th of the water evaporates switch off the flame and serve hot either with rice or parathas.
