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During COVID-19 we moved away from the city to a rural setting and then could not be persuaded to return to the traffic, crowds and high stress that metropolis life is all about.<\/p>\n
There were many other pluses: The air quality, the need to no longer socialise when you did not feel like it, the informality of living in your shorts all day long and fresh produce from the vegetable patch.<\/p>\n
It’s a huge luxury, while cooking, to walk just two metres to collect curry leaves, a few green mirchi<\/em>s, one or two lemons or some fresh basil and coriander.<\/p>\n Monsoon is the time when the garden is lush with doodhi<\/em>s (lokis<\/em> or bottle gourds), bhindi<\/em>s (lady’s finger or okra), cucumbers, turai<\/em>s or ridge gourds and more.<\/p>\n Fresh-from-the-bageecha turai<\/em> is not on the top of the preferred list for even sabzi<\/em> fans, let alone for those who push their veggies around their thali<\/em> (plate) hoping they will disappear magically, but not go into their stomach.<\/p>\n But lightly prepared, the Gujarati way, seasoned with just asafetida, curry leaves and with an imperceptibly tiny amount of sugar, this turai<\/em> sabzi<\/em> goes so well with hot chapatti<\/em>s.<\/p>\n I learnt the recipe from my Gujarati brother-in-law. Till then I didn’t like turai <\/em> that much.<\/p>\n Gujarati-Style Turai Sabzi<\/strong><\/p>\n Serves: 2<\/strong><\/p>\n Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n Method<\/strong><\/p>\n Zelda’s Note<\/strong>: I served the turai sabzi<\/em> with roti<\/em>s and a potato-sprouts-pomegranate raita<\/em>. Seafood fans might like to add 10-15 de-veined, shelled, tailed small prawns while cooking the turai<\/em>.<\/p>\n![](\"\/\/im.rediff.com\/getahead\/2023\/sep\/25food-turai2.jpg?w=670&h=900\")
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Cut once lengthwise and then into thinnish half-moon slices.<\/li>\n
Add the hing<\/em> and fry for a minute.
Then add the curry leaves and lal mirchi<\/em> powder and the turai<\/em> slices.
Fry for about two minutes and then add a little water, about ½ cup, so the sabzi<\/em> is a little juicy but this is not a raseela sabzi<\/em> ie a sabzi<\/em> with gravy.
Add the salt and the sugar.
Let the turai<\/em> simmer, covered, over low heat in the water till just cooked and slightly crunchy and don’t allow the water to evaporate entirely.
Next add the peas and cook for 2 minutes more and take off heat.<\/li>\n
For the raita<\/em>, whisk 200 ml yoghurt in a bowl and to it add 1 medium chopped, peeled boiled potato, a handful of green mung sprouts, 2 tsp pomegranate seed pods or arils, pinch chaat<\/em> masala, pinch salt and 2 tbsp chopped green coriander or dhania<\/em> or cilantro.<\/p>\n
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