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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Janhi-Chingudi Sukhua Tarkari (Ridge gourd-shrimp curry)

It is no secret that I love mixing veg and no-veg ingredients in my recipes. Maybe it has got something to do with my Odia roots. But I suspect that laziness plays a good part in it. Since cooking veg and non-veg separately calls for more effort and simply skipping one just does not sound/feel right, one has to choose the middle path of mixing and matching the ingredients from both core groups. I keep trying out recipes from different parts of the state/country. Poee chingudi, chingudi dalma,chicken saagwala,  maccha mahura, maccha chencheda, sukhua-bilati baigana poda, the list is a long one.

This recipe however is indigenous to Western Odisha. Most village folks prefer to add fresh shrimp caught straight from the neighborhood pond/river. But when the water dries up during the summers, the sun dried/smoked version of shrimp makes for a good substitute.

Read on for the recipe -



















Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -


  • 3 cups ridge gourd (cubed)
  • 1 cup dried shrimp
  • 1 medium sized onion (roughly chopped)
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp pancha phutana
  • 1-2 dry red chili
  • 2 tsp big mustard seeds
  • 2 pinch turmeric
  • 3 tsp oil
  • salt to taste


Preparation - Wash and soak the dry shrimp for 1/2 hour.

Grind the mustard seeds, garlic pods and 1 red chili into a fine paste. Dissolve it in 2/3 cup water.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the broken chili and pancha phutana. Once it gets spluttering, add
the onion. Fry till translucent.

Add the shrimp and fry for 2 minutes before adding the ridge gourd cubes to it. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the water in which mustard paste has been dissolved, taking care to discard the solid bits that have settled in the bottom of the cup.

Add salt and turmeric. Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame till the ridge gourd is done. Increase the flame a bit if there is a lot of water remaining. This curry should have a semi dry consistency.

Remove from the wok.

Serve with white rice.


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