Welcome to yet another episode of the Curry world.
When you think of curries what immediately comes to your mind
is meat, poultry, dairy, mushrooms, vegetables, and so much more.
What does not actually come to your mind organically...
is a fruit and in this case Watermelon.
I'm showing you, ladies and gentlemen, Watermelon Curry
Let's begin.
This trust me, is one of the most unusual curries I have ever eaten.
I was traveling to U.S several moons back
and this is a curry that I had eaten in an Indian restaurant.
Of course, with their owns to Asia,
now, I have not eaten this neither in anybody's home
nor in a restaurant in my own country
that brings me to the point of authenticity of this curry,
well, whatever said and done this is a treat, trust me when I say this
and you know, when I speak, I speak my heart out.
Let's begin with crushing Garlic for this recipe.
It's so unusual in a lot of ways because, of course, it is a fruit
combined with some spices, cooked in its own juice
which is, of course, the crushed Watermelon.
It has garlic, it is topped with ginger, and chillies.
Salivating to say the least.
Let's crush some Garlic Pods.
When I say some pods of garlic, I mean somewhere around 15-20 cloves of Garlic
because this is a curry which has that prominence
in terms of taste of Garlic.
So around 15-20 cloves of garlic or 2 whole pods of garlic.
Completely your choice.
Let's scrape the garlic and keep it in a bowl.
So we can immediately add it after the cumin tempers.
Remove this in a bowl.
Like so.
Let's turn the flame on
and add in some oil.
Now, when you follow the proportions of this recipe
trust me when I say this also
this is a proportion list that I have created myself following my heart
because I had eaten it somewhere.
I came back thinking about the recipe then I wrote it down
I made it once-twice over I loved it
and this is something I personally follow, if you feel
like adding a little ginger while tempering, adding in some curry leaves
adding in some Asafoetida.
Go all out and create your own versions of this curry
This is basically like a ball park recipe.
Go all out and show me your creations.
Once the oil heats up, let's begin with adding Cumin seeds
and allow these to splutter in the hot oil.
Once that happens, I'm going to add in Garlic.
Allow the Garlic to turn golden brown in colour
because that's where the flavour profile of this curry lies.
Well, watermelon is a fruit that is available across the globe, across the planet.
It's a wonderful summer fruit - it keeps you hydrated all through the day.
A bowl of watermelon here and there
I forgot.
Okay, now I remember.
Watermelon is a wonderful summer fruit.
It keeps you hydrated all through the day
and it has around 90% water content in the fruit itself.
Isn't that wonderful?
Garlic is fried and ready.
Let's add in some spices.
Beginning with Red Chilli Powder.
Keep the flame on an absolute low at this point in time because you do not want
the spices to burn.
A touch of Turmeric Powder.
Coriander Seed Powder basically also brings in
thickening in this recipe, because it's a natural thickener for a recipe like this
to which I'm also adding in a few juliennes of Green Chillies.
Just to bring out that natural freshness in the recipe.
At this stage, I would advise you lower the flame
because you do not want the spices to get burnt.
No untoward flavours, no untoward tastes
at any point in this recipe, once the masalas leave their
rawness or the raw flavour
I'm going to add in crushed Watermelon.
Give this is a stir.
At this stage, I've increased the flame because I want the curry
to bubble vigorously.
A touch of Salt.
Now, the quantity of salt in a recipe like this is very important.
Do not overdo the salt because it is a slightly sweetish recipe.
Now, here is a trick or a tip for you.
When you bring your watermelon home, now there are, of course,
various ways in which you can check a watermelon without cutting it
whether it is sweet from the inside or no.
The bottom or you know, when it is a round fruit
there has to be one side which is slightly flatter
it has to be either deep yellow or deep brown in colour
or maybe a patch of white in colour because that's the mark where it touches the ground
so which means it is full with sugar, now, in case, by any means
you land up with a watermelon which is not sweet.
I would suggest make a curry in that case because
with the sweet watermelon you can make, of course, juices,
you can eat it as a fruit, you can add in some salt and black salt
serve it to your family, or you can sprinkle in some Feta, some Vinaigrette
and make a wonderful Feta and Watermelon salad.
What say!
Give this a stir
and add in pieces of watermelon now.
Now, in case you land...
home with a watermelon which is seedless
Well,
that's all you can request for on days like these when you want to make this curry.
If it's a seedless watermelon...
Let's give this a quick stir, allow this to boil
on high flame for not more than 2 mins.
Now, if you think of the flavour profile of this recipe
I can quickly taste and tell you.
I love it.
It's a tad bit sweet, it's not really sweet-sweet when you think of
cooking something in watermelon juice, it's not that sweet
if you temper it right, if you spice it correctly
it's perfect; you'll forget the fact, that this curry is actually made
in watermelon juice, time to serve this right away.
Do not overcook this, do not overboil this because you do not want
the watermelon to get crushed, you do not want it to pulp up,
in the curry, itself.
Of course, it has to become soft it has to take in all the juice all the flavour
of the curry but not mushy.
Well that's how the watermelon curry looks
just the way I had eaten it several moons back in The U.S
This is so so so nostalgic.
Make this for your family, make this for your friends,
make sure you make this, give it a try, and thank me later.
Finally, a little garnish, of Green Chilli slivers and Ginger.
Bye for now.