Beerakaya fry
Updated: August 7, 2022, By Swasthi
Beerakaya fry recipe – Simple, delicious & healthy recipe of beerakaya or ridge gourd. This vegetable is also known as luffa, heerekayi in kannada, peerkangai in tamil and turai in hindi. It is well-known for the health benefits it provides. It is high in fiber, vitamins and is said to keep the sugar levels in control when consumed regularly. It aids in good digestive system and is easily digestible even in babies.
I am sharing a simple andhra style beerakaya fry recipe that is called as beerakaya vepudu in telugu. This is one of those delicious stir fry that is an every day side dish eaten with rice & ghee. Each home has their own recipe to make this stir fry or vepudu.
The recipe shared here is not a traditional version but it is the way I make at home for my family.
If you have never tried vepudu karam from my blog, do try it. It is a mix of sesame seeds, roasted dals, coconut and other simple ingredients. It adds a good aroma and taste to the everyday simple vegetable stir fry.
For those who would like to try with an alternate to vepudu karam, i suggest using idli podi, sambar powder, flax seeds spice powder or palli podi.But the right taste comes from the vepudu karam.
Tips
Always choose tender and juicy gourd, it tastes great in whatever way you cook. Coconut and vepudu karam are the two taste enhancers I prefer to make this beerakaya fry.
This stir fry goes well with rice or even with chapathi too, since this recipe yields a moist dry curry. If you have young fussy kids, do use roasted peanuts and coconut, most kids will love them.
This makes a very good side dish for the lunch box to accompany roti or chapathi.
More Beeraakaya recipes
Beerakaya pappu
Ridge gourd curry recipe
Beerakaya pachadi
Beerakaya kodi guddu
Beerakaya fry recipe
Beerakaya fry
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 250 grams ridge gourd or beerakaya (tender)
- 1 tbsp Oil
- ¼ tsp mustard
- ½ tsp cumin or jeera
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 ½ tsp chana dal or bengal gram
- 1 ½ tsp urad dal or skinned black gram
- 1 Pinch hing optional
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 red chili broken
- salt as needed
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- 1 to 2 tbsps coconut optional
- 1 tbsp peanuts Roasted and skinned , (optional)
To roast & powder or 1 tbsp idli podi or sambar powder
- ¾ tbsp chana dal
- ¾ tbsp urad dal
- ¾ tbsp dried coconut
- ¾ tbsp sesame seeds
- ½ tsp cumin or jeera
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 red chilies
Instructions
How to make beerakaya fry
- Wash the beerakaya under running water, brush it well since we are using the skin too. Wash well. Devein and chop to bite sized pieces.
- Heat a pan with oil. Add mustard, cumin, dals, and fry till the dals turn golden
- Add curry leaves, red chili and garlic. Fry till the curry leaves turn crisp. Sprinkle hing.
- Then add beerakaya, sprinkle turmeric and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes stirring.
- Reduce the flame to low to medium and fry till beerakaya is cooked completely. If your gourd is not tender and juicy. You can sprinkle water, cover and cook.
- On another burner, dry roast chana dal, urad dal & red chilies until dal turns golden. Then add sesame seeds, coconut, cumin & garlic. Roast on a low heat until the sesame turns aromatic. Do not over fry. Cool and powder this.
- Add salt, 1½ tbsp vepudu karam and coconut. Fry till you get a nice aroma for about 3 minutes. Then add peanuts and fry for another 2 mins.
- Serve beerakaya fry with rice, sambar or rasam
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Hi swasthi, how do I know if beerakaya is completely cooked? When I made it , people said it needed to be cooked more. Thank you!
Hi Amina,
The only way is to taste test during the last stages before adding the spice powder. Keep sprinkling water as you cook if it is not tender. Also choose tender/young gourds. Actually ridge gourd is healthy even if it is slightly undercooked but not a lot as it can cause digestive problem. Hybrid gourds cook faster and the Non-GMO gourds take a lot longer. I make about 750 grams each time and it takes about 30 to 35 mins. Hope this helps.
It was so good it didn’t last very long??
Absolutely loved it. Thank you.
Hello Tara,
You are welcome. So glad to know! Thank you
Hi,
Should the coconut added in step 7 be dry or wet coconut?
Thanks,
Renuka
Hi Renuka
It is fresh coconut. If you don’t have skip it
Excellent Swasthi, thank you for sharing the beerakay fry receipe….I added some tomatoes and it tasted awesome.
Hi Angela,
You are welcome! Glad you liked it. Thank you so much!
Hi
Im madhulatha,i really really love your recipe and im trying them whenever possible…dishes are very yummy and i thank u very much for you to share even the pictures….what an hard work u r doing…hatsoff to u n ur dedication….love ur recipes and even u…i could say how much thankful am i to u…love u dear
Hi Madhu,
You are most welcome. So happy to read your comment.Yes it is a bit of hard work but I enjoy doing it. Thank you so much for the love!! Hope you enjoy more recipes from here.
🙂
Hi, I was looking for a Ridge gourd recipe that we could all enjoy (we avoid this vegetable). *I made the podi and cook this recipe regularly, always with the additional coconut 🙂 I always buy only the fresh tender dark green Ridge gourd so that I can leave the skin on. Thank you so much for sharing! We love it!
you have not described when to add salt to the curry which is very important for the people who doenot know cooking.I belive the people who will see these are most of them who dnt know how to cook.
and when to add peanuts to the curry.
Thanks Rahul sharma
I have updated it.
Again swasthi u made my family & myself to eat our hated veggies which is good for health in a tasty manner.
Good 1. Keep it up.
Thanks Shalini, iam glad you liked it