Ridge Gourd Chutney is a deliciously light and tangy, salsa-like dish. Like any salsa, it needs to be prepared and enjoyed fresh. I grew up in a household that had fresh vegetarian food for every meal. Refrigerators were not affordable, so my mom used to make small portions and made sure there were no leftovers. And needless to say we would have a fresh chutney with every meal, since no South Indian meal is complete without a chutney!
Ridge Gourd
Have you eaten Ridge gourd before? It is a surprisingly soft and watery vegetable for the kind of hard skin and ridges on the outside. If you’re unfamiliar with this vegetable, you’ll be amazed at how tender it is on the inside. Once you peel the skin (incidentally, the skin is also used to make a delicious peel chutney!), the rest of the vegetable is very soft and cooks very fast. And the seeds are so deliciously sweet, they have a flavor of their own!
Ridge Gourd
Chutney
Clearly, chutney is to Indian cuisine, what salsa is to Mexican cuisine. Though chutneys can have far more ingredients and complex flavors, the concept is so strikingly similar. In my experience, salsas is mostly tomato and chili pepper based. Chutneys on the other hand, are made with literally all kinds of vegetables, lentils and spices. Back home in India, my mom still makes at least a couple of fresh chutneys a week and they are consumed in two or three days at most. No meal is complete without a chutney (didn’t I say this already?)!
Refreshing Ridge Gourd Chutney
Overall, this is a quick and easy chutney recipe – start to finish in 20 minutes. I always sauté seasoning ingredients (mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad dal, red chili) separately and set them aside. The idea is to not get the seasoning ingredients wet until the last minute. This ensures that the seasoning stays fresh and blends well with the chutney. Since this is a fresh, wet chutney, it is not meant to be preserved for longer periods. It can stay in the fridge for about 2-3 days at best.
Ridge gourd is rich in dietary fiber and enriched with all the vital elements that include Vitamin C, Zinc, Iron, Riboflavin, Magnesium, Thiamine and traces of other minerals. This is a lightly sautéed and mildly spiced dish that retains most of the nutrient value of the vegetable. A great recipe for the calorie conscious.
Chutney Recipes
What’s your favorite Chutney? Check out our amazing line up of chutneys, while you’re here:
- Fresh Coconut Tomato Chutney
- Spicy Garlic Chutney
- Yellow Mung Raw Onion Chutney
- Cranberry Chutney with a South Indian Twist
- Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Chutney
- Zero-Waste Butternut Squash Sippae (Peel) Chutney
- Spicy Sweet Tangy Tomato Chutney
- Raw Mango Fenugreek Salsa
- Flavorful Roulette Peppers Chutney
- Malabar Spinach Chutney
- Smoky Eggplant Chutney
- Coconut Chutney
- Raw Green Tomato Chutney
- Superfood Moringa Leaf Chutney
- Flavorful Cilantro-Mint Chutney
- Delicious Peanut-Coconut Chutney
- Allam Pachadi: Zesty Ginger Chutney!
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Refreshing Ridge Gourd Chutney
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Ridge Gourd - Peeled, Small Pieces
- 1/4 Cup Onion - Fine Cut
- 1 Chili Green Chili Pepper - Small
- 1 Teaspoon Tamarind - Paste
- 1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Jaggery - (Gud or Unrefined Cane Sugar)
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil - Extra Virgin
Tempering
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Urad Dal
- 1 Chili Dry Red Chili - Large
Instructions
- Wash and peel ridge gourd skin and cut to small pieces
- Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a pan. Sauté tempering ingredients (mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, urad dal, red chili) for 1-2 minutes and and set them aside in a bowl.
- In the same pan, add 1/2 teaspoon oil, and sauté onions first for about 5 minutes. Add ridge gourd and turmeric and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes. Add this to blender. Add sautéed seasoning ingredients, green chili, salt, jaggery and tamarind paste in the blender and blend to a coarse paste.
- Transfer to serving bowl. Serve and enjoy while it is freshly prepared.
