Vellarikka Curry (Kerala style Cucumber Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 4: Kerala Cuisine 
Day 22: V for Vellarikka Curry

There were quite a few options for the letter V in Malayalam. Raw banana (vazhakai), eggplant (vazhuthananga), okra (vendakai) and garlic (velluthulli). I finally ended up picking Vellarikka or cucumber.

This Kerala cucumber curry is a simple side dish made with ground coconut and yogurt sauce. With all these coconut based Kerala dishes I probably ate more coconut in a week than I normally would in a month. I'm not complaining though, it's just that we don't use this much coconut in our everyday cooking. On another note, adding coconut to diet has many health benefits like improving heart health, improves digestion, quick energy boost and so on.

I used English cucumber to make this curry, but you can use any other cucumber you want. Served with rice and dal, this makes for a filling and delicious meal.

Recipe from Yummy O Yummy:

Vellarikka Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 Medium Cucumber, peeled (or not) and diced
• 3~4 Green Chilies, slit
• ¼tsp Turmeric
• To taste Salt
• ½cup Grated Coconut
• ½tsp Cumin seeds
• 2tsp Coconut Oil
• ½tsp Mustard seeds
• 1~2 Dry Red chili
• 8~10 Curry leaves
• 1 Small Red Onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2~3tbsp Yogurt, whisked

Method:

1. Grind coconut and cumin seeds into a smooth paste. Set aside.
2. In a pan, combine cucumber, green chilies, turmeric, salt and ½cup of water; bring to a boil and simmer till cucumber is tender, about 10~12 minutes.
3. Stir in the ground coconut mixture and cook for 3~4 minutes for the flavors to mingle. Taste and adjust the salt accordingly. Take off the heat.
4. In another small pan, heat the coconut oil, add mustard seeds and dry red chili. Once the seeds splutter, add curry leaves and onions. Cook for 3~4 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.
5. Add the onions to the curry along with the whisked yogurt, mix well. Serve with rice.

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