Beerakaya Royyala Koora ~ Ridge Gourd Shrimp Fry

Beerakaya royyala koora is a popular curry from coastal Andhra. It is prepared with both fresh and dried prawns. It is not a common preparation in Telangana and in my family circles, we do not cook non veg curries with vegetables, few vegetables being an exception. The exceptions being tomatoes, green bell peppers, some leafy vegetables, green peas and lima beans. Except tomatoes, rest of the vegetables mentioned above are cooked mostly with mutton.

I made this curry couple of weekends ago for lunch. Initially Mr.U was reluctant to eat it and tried his best to talk me out of making this curry. But I was determined to cook it anyway!! This was a nice variation to the shrimp curry/fry I make and even Mr.U seemed to have relished it. I made it spicy hot and please do adjust the spices to taste. I wanted small shrimp for this curry and the only peeled shrimp I could get that day were Key West Pink shrimp. I would have preferred the regular black/brown shrimp but these worked just fine.

Total Time: 30 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2 - 3

Ingredients:

1 lb Shrimp (I used 51-60 ct Key West Pink Shrimp)
2 Ridge Gourd, peeled and cut into ½” pieces (after peeling and cutting, weighed 450 grams, almost a pound)
4 tablespoon Oil
¼ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
4 Curry Leaves
1 - 1 ½ tablespoon chopped Methi / Fenugreek Leaves (opt.)
¾ cup or ½ - ¾ medium sized chopped Onion
4 small Green Chilies, cut into 3-4 pieces (adjust to taste)
1 ½ - 2 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
1 ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
2 teaspoon Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
1 - 1 ½ teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste)
¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
Garam Masala (powder of ⅛ teaspoon Cardamom Seeds, 1 Clove & tiny piece of Cinnamon)
Cilantro / Kothmir Leaves for garnish

Preparation:

I bought frozen peeled and deveined shrimp. Thaw the shrimp by running it under room temperature water or leave it in water for 5-10 minutes until completely thawed. Remove from water and squeeze to remove any excess water. Keep aside.
Peel and cut ridge gourd into ½” pieces. I cut each gourd into 4 pieces lengthwise and then diced to ½” pieces.
Heat oil in a nonstick pan. When oil is hot, add cumin, methi leaves, curry leaves and saute until methi leaves are well fried in oil. Raw methi is bitter and it is crucial to fry/saute the methi well.
Add green chilies, onions and saute until light yellow.
Add ginger garlic and saute until raw smell is gone.
Add coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric and mix well.
Add shrimp and stir until spices coat the shrimp.
Add ridge gourd and stir again until gourd is well mixed and spices are coated.
Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes until both shrimp and gourd are almost cooked. Stir in between. Both shrimp and ridge gourd will release lot of moisture.
Remove the cover and continue cooking until all the moisture is evaporated. This will take at least 5 minutes and reduce the flame if necessary.
Once the juices are evaporates, reduce the flame to medium, add garam masala and continue to fry.
After adding garam masala, taste and adjust chili powder and salt to taste.
Fry until shrimp and ridge gourd are well fried and light brown in color. Turn off the heat and garnish with cilantro.
Serve with rice or roti (Indian flatbread).

Note:

I used 2 ridge gourd and felt I could have used one more. I could not taste ridge gourd in the curry. But if one prefers more shrimp and less vegetable in the curry, then use 2 ridge gourds.

This day in 2014: Xalapa - Enfrijoladas
This day in 2015: Pesaru Pappu Charu ~ Pappy Khut without Lime Juice