Mangalore Cucumber Palya/Curry

          Mangalore Cucumber, the yellow color one ( shown in the picture ), we don't use it that much in Tamil cuisine, or at least as far as I know. After moving to Bangalore, I saw this a lot in the market and I wanted to try it out. The first dish that I made with it was this Curry and now this Palya is my second dish and I have adapted the recipe from here. This curry goes well with rice and dal or even as a side to rotis, if you don't find this variety of cucumber, I think you can do it with regular one too..

Need To Have

• Mangalore Cucumber - 1 medium
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jaggery Powder - 1 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

To Grind

• Grated Coconut - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Red Chilly - 1

Original recipe here

Method

          Wash the cucumber, then cut it into half, scoop out the seeds and dice the cucumber, came to about 3 cups. Save the scooped out seeds for another dish.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, when it starts sputtering, add the curry leaves followed by the cucumber pieces. Add the salt, turmeric powder and jaggery, mix, cover and cook on low heat till done.

           Grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' without adding any water.

           Add the ground coconut to the cooked vegetable , mix and cook it for 3 to 4 minutes and remove.

Note
Don't overcook the vegetable, it should hold it's shape and shouldn't become soggy and mushy.