Dosakaya Koora (Yellow cucumber curry - Guntur style)

This is one of those dishes that reminds me of Amma and my childhood memories. Memories of me and my siblings sitting on the veranda while Amma feeds us rice mixed with curry and ghee, mixed to perfection. We would gulp down morsel after morsel, without realizing how full we are. After all, the food came from Amma's hand...

What you need to make this koora:

1 large Dosakaya (Indian yellow cucumber)
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped into 1/4" pieces
2 tomatoes (optional)
1- 1 1/2 cups fresh yogurt (absolutely NO non-fat, low-fat varieties. Plain, whole
milk yogurt)
Salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

For tadka or seasoning:
1 -2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tsp each, chana dal, urad dal, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds
1 or 2 dry red chilies, broken into 1" pieces
1 sprig curry leaves

Prep Work:

• Peel dosakaya just as you peel regular cucumber. Slice into half.
• Check the seeds and flesh for any bitter taste.
• If the flesh is bitter, discard the dosakaya. If not, Remove all the seeds. If the seeds have bitter taste, peel the membrane that connects the seeds, wash the flesh part thoroughly with water.
• Slice length-wise and chop into small bite sized pieces.

How to make:

• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil starts "dancing", add all tadka items. Saute until a nice aroma comes out and the mustard seeds stop spluttering.
• Add onion and green chili pieces and turmeric powder.
• Saute until the onions are soft and light brown in color, stirring occasionally.
• Add tomatoes and dosakaya pieces, salt and red chili powder. Reduce heat to medium. Mix well, cover and cook, until done, stirring now and then.
• Add yogurt, adjust salt (if needed), mix gently and cook without lid until you see the curry starts bubbling on top. Simmer on very low heat for 2 minutes, remove from heat.

Dosakaya or Indian yellow cucumbers are available at Indian groceries. This is not a regular vegetable that makes an appearance in the usual US grocery stores. See picture here. It is the pale yellow one next to tomatoes.)
Serving suggestion: Although this goes better with either rice or roti, it tastes best with warm steamed rice, melted ghee. Yum!!!