Peerkangai Thogayal/Peerkai Thol Thovayal/Ridge gourd skin chutney

Yes! You read it right. This thogayal is made from the skin of ridge gourd. But trust me! It tastes great and it is good for health too. It is a family recipe from my maternal grandma who was a great chef. I‘ll be posting some of her famous recipes now and then in this space in future.
Now coming to the dish, at home Amma makes Peerkangai  kootu with the inner part and makes thogayal with the skin. She makes rasam and fries some appalam and vadam to go with it. Thats it the meal is ready! Simple yet tasty! The thogayal should be mixed with hot rice along with a drizzle of gingelly oil. Paired along with some koozh vathal it will taste heavenly. It will go well with hot dosas and idlis too. Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Peerkangai/Ridge gourd skin-2 cups

Dried Red chillies-4 long

Curry leaves-1/2 cup tightly packed

Tamarind-small marble sized

Asafoetida -1 tsp

Urad dal, skinned-3 tbsp

Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Coconut-1 cup, shredded

Salt-as needed

Oil-3 tbsp

How it Happened:

1. Wash the ridge gourd/peerkangai and peel the skin. Peel them a little thick than usual.

2. Heat a tbsp of oil in a kadai, add the peeled skin and fry them until they turn brown at the edges.

3. Remove the fried skin from oil and set them aside. Now add the remaining oil and add the red chillies and fry until they turn a little brown and get swollen.Remove and set aside.

4.  Then add asafoetida & urad dal; fry until golden brown.

5. Add the curry leaves and fry them until crisp. Switch off the flame. Allow them to cool.

6. Now add the coconut, fried skin and all other fried ingredients along with tamarind and salt to the blender jar.

7. Grind them to a fine paste by sprinkling about a tbsp of water.

8. Transfer them to a serving bowl. Serve with rice or idlis.

Notes:

*Do not use a peeler to peel the skin. Instead use a knife so the peel can be a little thick.

*The skin should be fried well. Even it can be a little charred. This adds a mild desirable smoky flavour. But it should get fried else it will give a raw taste to the dish.

*Oil will seem to be a little more but it is necessary for browning the ingredients.

*While grinding do not use more water just keep sprinkling to facilitate grinding.