Pumpkin Creepers And Sprouted Horse Gram In A Spicy Coconut Curry (Dudde Denta Randayi)

Pumpkin Creepers And Sprouted Horse Gram In A Spicy Coconut Curry (Dudde Denta Randayi)

Pumpkin creepers in a coconut curry is a traditional Konkani delicacy. It’s a dish from my grandparents generation. Most of us have forgotten delicacies like these due to unavailability of ingredients like pumpkin creepers. Back then every house had pumpkin, ash gourd, ivy gourd, bitter gourd creepers and leafy greens like red, green amaranthus, malabar spinach, growing in their backyards. Most of the houses grew brinjals, lady’s finger, tomatoes, green chillies and many more veggies in their backyard.

This recipe includes tender pumpkin creepers, sprouted horse gram and tender pumkin leaves all thrown into a spicy, yummy coconut curry. To top it this curry is seasoned with garlic, making the curry absolutely delish. A great curry to go with your rice, which is a staple to most of us South Indians.

It’s called dudde denta randayi in Konkani. Dudde dentu means pumpkin creeper in Konkani and randayi means curry. Only tender creepers are used to make this curry. The tender creepers are chopped off and made into 2-3 inch pieces using a knife. Any excess fibre attached to the pieces is peeled off. Here’s the rest of the recipe for you:

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of chopped tender pumpkin creepers
  • 1/2 cup of sprouted horse gram
  • 3/4 cup grated coconut
  • 10-12 garlic pods
  • 1 tablespoon of tamarind
  • 3 tablespoons of oil
  • 5 dried red chillies
  • Salt to taste

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Preparation Method:

1. Soak horse gram for a few hours (4-8 hours) then wrap them in a wet towel and let it rest overnight so that the horse gram sprouts a little. We just need tiny sprouts.

2. Once sprouted, pressure cook them using 1.5 cups of water until they are cooked through and soft.

Prepping the tender pumpkin creepers:

3. Chop the tender pumpkin creepers into 2-3 inch pieces. Remove any excess fibre attached to the pieces. 

4. Wash them well and pressure cook them with salt, 1 cup water for 1 whistle.

Pumpkin creepers (dudde vali):

Pumpkin creeper chopped into pieces - Dudde dentu:

Preparing the masala:

5. Heat a wok, add in dried red chillies broken into pieces, few drops of oil and fry them for few minutes. Remove off heat.

6. Let them cool completely. Once cooled grind them along with grated coconut, tamarind into a smooth paste.

7. Into a cooking vessel, add the ground masala, cooked horse gram along with the water used to cook it, cooked pumpkin creepers and the water used to cook it and mix well.

8. Check and adjust salt. Add water if required. The consistency of the curry should be medium thick. 

9. Bring the curry to boil and then simmer for few minutes until the rawness of the masala goes off. Then remove it off heat.

10. Seasoning: Heat a tadka pan, add in slightly smashed garlic and fry them until they start to brown. Add this seasoning to the curry and mix well.

11. Serve the curry hot with a bowl of steaming hot rice. Makes a great meal! Also serve papads or some rice fritters for some crunch. Makes a heavenly meal. :-)

For more Konkani cuisine curry recipes look here

Tags: Konkani food, Konkani recipe, Konkani cuisine, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, coconut curry, pumpkin creepers, sprouted horse gram, dudde dentu, kulithu, kulith, dudde denta randayi, dudde vali.