Ridge Goud is a vegetable which either many hate / is just OK OK type . Knowing that ridge gourd is very high in water and nutrient content and barely has any fats and cholesterol , i keep bringing them home often . From ridge gourd i usually make ridge gourd dosa, dal , chutney , stir fry ,sambar , huli tovve, sihi menasu etc . Thank fully my kids are not that fussy when it comes to veggies . I have already shared few ridge gourd recipes here and today its time for a lovely dish using the veggie – ” Stuffed Ridge Gourd / HeereKai Ennegai “, which i am sure will receive a thumbs up, from even ridge gourd haters. Trust me ..they taste awesome with chapathi / bhakri / rice ….

There are many ways in which one can prepare this dish as the stuffing/ masala part may vary from region to region . The one that i am sharing today is Maharshtra and North Karnataka style where in the ridge gourd are cooked in spices along with tamarind juice and flavored with roasted peanut-sesame-kopra powder. This dish is similar to the Stuffed Brinjal ( Badne Ennegayi ) that i had shared earlier , the only difference here is the use of ridge Gourd instead of Brinjal . Do try friends .. i’m sure you too will start buying ridge gourd like me… Here you go …

STUFFED RIDGE GOURD
Ingredients
- 2-3 Ridge gourd / heerekai ( tender fresh ones without seeds )
- 1 big onion , thinly sliced
- 1 big tomato
- Curry Leaves Few
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Mustard
- lemon size Tamarind soaked in water
- 2 tbsp Oil
- Salt to taste
- Little Jaggery ( Optional )
- 1 tbsp Black sesame seeds / til / niger seeds / gurellu ( niger seeds / gurellu preferred )
- 2 tbsp Dry Coconut / Kopra ( grated / cut to pcs )
- 2 - 4 tbsp Peanut
Masala for stuffing :
- 2 tbsp Bengal Gram Chana Dal
- 1 tbsp Split Black gram Urad dal
- 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds Dhania
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds Jeera
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds methi
- 6 - 10 Red Chillies based on spice level
- Curry Leaves - few
Instructions
- First lets keep the masala used for stuffing ready . Fry the ingredients mentioned under masala in a tsp of oil .
- Grind it to a fine powder. Transfer to a wide plate and add salt,turmeric and little jaggery to it.Mix well . Now stuffing is ready .
- Wash and roughly peel the ridge gourd to remove sharp ridges. You need not peel the skin completely. The removed peel can be used to do ridge gourd chutney .
- Cut the ridge gourd to about 1.5 " pieces .Cut them in "+" shape just half through the ridge gourd as shown in the pic.Do not cut fully .
- Stuff the masala with a spoon or with your fingers as much as possible into the slitted ridge gourd. Keep the remaining masala powder aside to use later .
- In a small cooker,take more oil .When they are hot, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.Add onions and saute till they are translucent.
- Now add the stuffed ridge gourd and saute for 2-3 minute.
- Next add tomatoes.Add salt,tamarind and remaining stuffing masala if there is any.Add some water and close the lid and cook .Keep the flame on medium . Stir occasionally to see that it is not burnt.
- Mean while , when the ridge gourd is getting cooked lets prepare the extra seasoning which will be added towards the end . Separately dry roast peanuts and sesame seeds.Roast till they are fragrant .Once cool, if you want de skin peanuts or use as such
- Transfer roasted peanuts,roasted sesame and dry coconut to a mixer jar. Grind to a coarse powder.
- Now check if ridge gourd s are done . When the ridge gourds are cooked, finally add peanut-sesame-kopra powder. Mix well. Addition of this powder will thicken the gravy. Add some water ,based on your desired consistency. Give it just a boil.Switch off .
- That's it yummy Stuffed Ridge gourd / Heerekai ennegai is ready to serve . Relish them hot with Chapathi / Jowar bhakri / Rice bhakri / Steamed Rice.
Notes
- If you are lazy to stuff ridge gourd / running out of time, short cut method is : just chop ridge gourd into big pieces and proceed with other steps as mentioned above.
- Ridge gourd should be fresh and tender for this dish.
- Don't peel off the skin completely.This will make the veggie weak and will be difficult to fill in the masala .
- If you want you can just stuff rasam powder / sambar powder instead of freshly roasting spices.
- While roasting spices if you want you can add 2 cloves,a piece of cinnamon and a cardamom.
- If you want you can omit onion.
- Do not forget to add peanut-sesame-dry coconut powder in the end.This gives nice taste and texture to the gravy.
- The same masala as well method can be used to cook stuffed capsicum / stuffed brinjal
- Instead of black sesame seeds you can also use little poppy seeds / nigella seeds (huchellu/gurellu)
9 Comments
marudhus kitchen
June 11, 2015 at 11:08 amA new type of gravy I have learnt with this veggie ..thank u
padma veeranki
June 11, 2015 at 8:51 pmI have tried and stuffed many veggies but never thought of this…Great share..will try sometime:)
Gloria
June 12, 2015 at 2:51 pmWe make stir fry with ridge gourd..this gravy looks super ..will try this style someday
Gayathri Ramanan
June 12, 2015 at 4:43 pmInteresting dish with ridge gourd..love to try…Enter to win giveaway in my bloghttp://foodybuddy.net/2015/06/10/my-first-giveaway-engraved-bamboo-cutting-board.html
Rasakama
June 12, 2015 at 5:51 pmlooks delicious. I just hope that I will be able to find this vegetable in Canada. http://www.rasakama.comA Sri Lankan cooking blog
shobha rawal
June 13, 2015 at 5:08 amDelicious & spicy ridge gourd……….my fav summer vegetable.www.shobhapink.blogspot.in
Venugopal Gopalswamysetty
December 2, 2015 at 3:02 amSuberp taste with wonderful gravy.. It’s my favourite dish. I recommend others to try and enjoy this curry.
seeker
June 30, 2016 at 12:23 pmi tried this. I used vangibath powder for the stuffing which is made with the same ingredients. Came out v well. I had some difficulty in scooping out the seeds though. Any suggestion?
Rashmi M S
February 2, 2018 at 6:55 pmHi Smitha,
Made this today and we all loved it! Thanks for the recipe 🙂