Doodhi Ma Gaanthiya nu Shaak!

Gujarati Doodhi ma Gaanthiya nu Shaak ( Bottle Gaurd Sabzi with Gaanthiya, a sort of fresh pasta/small cylindrical pieces of a dough made of Besan and spices, predominantly flavoured with ajwain ) Okay, it totally sounds fancy and complicated but it is not. It is more of a rustic curry than anything fancy.

See, that is the thing about adulting, you eat a lot of veggies because you know you are supposed to. In my case, I don’t hate bottle gourd, but I was pretty bored of the usual sabzi. Then this 💡 moment happened. Everytime we go home, our moms make a selection of Sabzis which are simple but we don’t really get to enjoy in Bangalore, mostly because I don’t know how to make them or because we don’t get some of the veggies easily here. It’s mostly the first reason 😉 The last time I was in Vadodara, mom made it for us, and we ( I especially ) loved it! I had noted down the recipe several months ago, and I bought bottle hours several times after that, but ended up making something else. However this time, I was determined I make it. I had even noted down the basics in Google Keep while I was still taking to mom. ( This is for people who ask me how I recipes effortlessly. I don’t. I take notes, edit them offline while commuting or waiting in queues, bombard mom with questions about proportions on weekends, let it hibernate for months, then I fine tune it before copying it here ) . For someone who has never made fresh Gaanthiya before, this not something you should do in morning rush. I tried my hand at it once or twice in the evening before attempting it in the morning today. But I will tell you this, it is not that time consuming or cumbersome. No murruku press or any instrument needed, though if that feels convenient to you, use it by all means. The same Gaanthiya can be simmered in the base for Sev Tameta nu shaak too. The effort is a payment I am ready to make to not eat Doodhi in the same boring way. 😉

Ingredients: ( makes 2 generous servings )

• 1 slender, seedless Bottle Gourd, peeled and cut into small pieces, ( cut just before cooking or store submerged in a bowl of water to prevent darkening ),
• 1/3rd cup of Besan/Chickpea flour,
• 1 tbsp of whole wheat flour / Semolina ( optional but recommended ),
• 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp of groundnut oil,
• 1 tsp cumin seeds,
• 1 tsp mustard seeds,
• 1 tsp ajwain ( more if you like the flavour )
• 1/2 tsp + 1/4th tsp Hing/asafoetida,
• salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin coriander powder to taste,
• 1 tsp jaggery/sugar ( optional but recommended ),
• juice of 1 lemon, add just before serving

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker or a heavy bottomed pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add cumin and mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add 1/th tsp of hing/ asafoetida and when fragrant, add the chopped bottle gourd. Mix well. Add the seasoning to taste – salt, jaggery, cumin-coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder. Mix well. Add 1/2 a cup of water and cook on high till the pressure builds up and for 3 more whistles on simmer, or until the bottle gourd is completely cooked.
2. While the gourd cooks, make the dough for Ganthiya. Take the Besan/Chickpea flour in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of oil ( you could add less but I like the texture of Gaanthiya more when I add a little extra oil ), ajwain, hing, ( adding both on the higher side adds flavour and aids digestion ), and the spices ( salt, turmeric and cumin-coriander powder ). Mix everything well, adding a tbsp of water at a time ( add water extremely carefully, a little more and the dough will be unmanageable to work with ) to bring everything together.
3. Divide into 8 portions. Oil your hands and roll each portion into a thin strand ( keep the thickness half of the thickness you expect the Gaanthiya to be, it swells on absorbing water while cooking. ) I like taking help of a chopping board or a rolling board and using motion like rolling a chapati, to get uniformly thick strands. cut into inch long pieces.
4. Once the pressure from the pressure cooker is released, open it, turn the heat on, and add another 3/4th to 1 cup of water. Gaanthiya absorbs a lot of water to keep the sabzi at this stage on a thinner side. Once the sabzi comes to a gentle boil, drop the Gaanthiya into the sabzi and let it simmer on low heat. Cook for about 10 mins or when the Gaanthiya doubles in size, stirring extremely gentle in between to make sure that the Ganthiya don’t stick to the bottom or to each other.
5. Once done, take it off the heat, add lemon juice and serve with Paranthas/Fulkas or an accompaniment of your choice.