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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Kantola Subzi

Kantola is a Indian gourd, which i was not familiar with, until i came across it in the freezer section in the Indian store. It's mildly bitter in taste, but nothing like the bitter gourd bitterness.You can simply fry it in oil, sprinkle some red chilly powder and salt, which makes a tasty kantola fry.

Ingredients

12 oz / 340 gm - Kantola, chopped
1/2 tsp - Crushed red chili powder,
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder
2 medium - Shallots, chopped
4 to 6 big flakes - Garlic, crushed

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp - Jeera seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat a pan with oil, add mustard seed and let it pop. Then add jeera, curry leaves, shallots, garlic and fry lightly. Then add red chili, turmeric and garam masala powder. Stir and mix.

2 ) Add kantola and mix with all the masala. Add salt to taste, sprinkle little water and cook on a low heat, covered with a lid. Once the kantola is cooked, add little more oil and stir fry. Take off the stove and serve.

Serve with rice or chapati.

32 comments:

Unknown said...

Never heard of this veggie before. From the pics it looks like mini version of bitter gourd. Thanks for the recipe and information.

Suganya said...

Thx for the info on this vegetables, Pravs. Will try finding it. Looks like mini bitter gourd.

Rajitha said...

thnks for sharing this...i have always seen this in the Indian store but given it a pass....will try it next time

Sharmi said...

I have also seen it in the freezer section but frankly speaking looks a little weird. wonder how it tastes. your pic sure looks nice.

Prajusha said...

pravi,
never heard this name...looks like another variety of bitter gourd.thanks for sharing the unique recipe.

Tee said...

This looks great!I have seen Kantola in the indian store so many times, but never knew what to do with it. Looks so much like the bitter gourd...since we like bitter gourd, i guess we would not mind kantola :)
Thanks for the recipe, Pravs!

Bindiya said...

have seen this veggie so many times but never knew what to make out of it, thx for the recipe!

J said...

The veg still loks "foreign" to me :) How does it taste like?

Anonymous said...

looks like baby pavakkai,thanks for sharing the recipe .Left a comment on your raspberry jam recipe saying that it looked delicious,but it seems to have disappeared!:)
paati

Anonymous said...

it looks kutty karela - never seen or heard of it - i think it wil make a very good candidate for paruppu usili

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

me too have got to say what the comments above speak..have not seen this veggie earlier....but the raspberry jam is toooo great!..really mouthwatering

Mishmash ! said...

U re quite adventurous and experimental...I probably would not have picked such an unfamiliar thing ;)

Swaruchy said...

Have seen this several times but never cooked it.....Thanks I now know a recipe on how to cook this :-)

Pravs said...

Madhu : Its looks like mini bitter gourd but is not as bitter as bitter gourd. Must be it belongs to the same family :)

Suganya : You are welcome :)

Rajitha : if you like a hint of bitter taste..it will work fine for you.

Sharmi : If you like bitter gourd.. this is similar ..but not as bitter as bitter gourd. Very midly bitter. But people who like bitter gourd, this veggie is some thing to try.

Prajusha : Yeah me too didn't know...not something we see in kerala.

Tee : since you like bitter gourd.. you will definitely like this veggie.

Bindiya : i do the same...pass off some veggies i don't know. Then sometimes i become adventurous and try a new veggie. Its fun to try new veggie and discover a new taste.

Jyothsna : Tastes like..hmm.. midly bitter..since i didn't take the seeds off..crunchy seeds..i liked the subzi. Can't pinpoint and compare the taste to another veggie. Now i am not able to.. may be i should take a bite and think :D

Paati : Thanks for both the comments :)

Lakshmi :Okay. that will be another recipe with this veggie.

Kitchen scientist : Thanks :D

Mishmash : Yeah :P but you see, cos i am..i was able to discover this veggie.

Sirisha : Do try and let me know if you like this recipe and the veggie :)

Sig said...

oh I've never seen or heard of this, but good to know I am not alone... if it tastes anything like bittegourd, I am in :)... will look for it next time.

Padma said...

Yeah, we call it aa-kakarkai (telugu)
I have the frozen ones in my fridge too. Your subzi looks colorful and chilli hot...nice photo!

Kribha said...

I never heard or seen this before. Nice subzi. will look for it next time.

Seena said...

Prave,looks like small bitter gourds..I have seen this during child hood, but I don't remember the actual name now! Any way loved your fry recipe dear..

Pooja Na(i)rayan said...

Pravs
I have to admit I would have walked away from this vegetable, but ur presentation makes me feel that I have to try. Unless I try it I wont know whether I like it or not Right. It is not fair to jump from sweet raspberry jam to bitter stuff.

Rina said...

Pravs, I never use too like this type of karela. My grand mother used to cooked often times. In telugu we call it aa-kakarakaya. Your dish looks great. I don't think we get these in toronto.

KayKat said...

I've never seen these in the stores here. Back in Madras, my mum cooked the "baby" bittergourds pretty often. Wonder if these are the same.

Looks delicious :)

DK said...

Never knew of such a veggie bfore...as couple of others have opiniated, it sure luks like mini bitter guard!

Richa said...

have seen this in the frozen section, but never cooked with it!
subzi looks good.

Kalva said...

Oh we call it Akakarakaya in telugu. Nice recipe.

Finla said...

I have never heard or seen a veggie like this. It looks like small pavakka

Sivani said...

Yep - as others have said it is called akakarakaya in telugu. We absolutely love it (even the seven year-old).

Our favorite is akakarakaya vepudu - fried, with salt and karapodi added at the end.

I have also made one of Sandeepa's recipes by substituting this for karela.

http://andamu.org/ruchi/2007/09/not_so_bitter_1.html

It is sold here in the US in many of the Indian groceries in the freezer section, next to the drumsticks etc. :-)

Anonymous said...

I have tried this vegi. This is owsome

Unknown said...

Nice veggie. We do make Kantola bhaji(Marathi style) at home.But i never tried making it.But saw them here in OZ(Indian Shop). They call it Indian Gourd.This taste really good.I tried your recipe.Its come out really well.

Thx Pravs

Pravs said...

Nisha : Thanks for the feed back :)

Anonymous said...

My mother used to make kantola in dry sabji form. She used to allow it to brown a bit so it tasted verygood particularly with Dahi rice. They have a short season during early monsoon. Kantola probably is a gujarati name as it is widely available in Gujarat. It taste mildly bitter but tastes great once cooked. We add a bit of jaggery at the end of cooking. Allows it to balance the bitter taste.
Monisha

BLISS said...

I love kantoli, maharashtrians are well versed with it I guess, was hunting for a recipe,and so glad to find it here,making this right now. Mom used to make it back in Mumbai with fresh kantolis just love it! But I opened the packet and the seeds look quite big,doesnt that ruin the flavor? U removed the seeds before cooking?

Pravs said...

Bliss : You can remove the seeds, if you don't prefer it. I had cooked with some seeds, as i liked it that way. Please do try and let me know, if you liked the recipe :)