Teasle Gourd (Kakrol) and Carrot Subji

There are some vegetables I dislike (bitter gourd), and some that I simply love (bhindi!). There are some I don't have any feeling for; either way it doesn't matter. The teasle gourd or kakrol is one such vegetable. I was introduced to it only after I got married. I first saw it in the sabji mandi near my house in Hyderabad, years ago. R wanted to know if I knew how to make it, and I replied in the negative. Ever since that day, whenever R buys vegetables (once in a while) he gets his favorites like Arabi, Bitter Gourd, Kakrol.

He calls it Ghee Karela. It is like a smaller version of the bitter gourd, but don't know if it is supposed to have ghee-like properties, or if it is due to the ghee-like colour on one side of the vegetable. Anyway, I have never been able to make it the way R likes it. I try something of my own, or like with this dish, ask my mother what I could possibly do to make it tasty. I really liked the result, and so did R, though he did complain that it is not what he was expecting.

To make the subji in the above picture, you will need:

Teasle Gourd - cut into cubes (deseed as much as possible) - 2 cups
Carrots - cut into cubes - 1 cup
Onions - chopped - 2
Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 strand
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Steam cook the teasle gourd and carrots together
• Mix the powders, ginger paste, salt, and lemon juice into the vegetables and leave for 30 minutes
• Heat oil in pan, splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves and green chilly
• Saute the onions in this pan until light brown
• Add the vegetables and stir fry well for 5 - 10 minutes

Serve with hot rice

P.S. I would really love to get more recipes with this vegetable, and especially ones with gravy.