Kankrol er pur..

Kankrol or kantola is a common summer vegetable in India. This spiny green vegetable is aptly translates to teasel gourd for their spiny appearance. Though not as widely used as other vegetables, teasel gourd is full of health benefit and tastes good too. The egg shaped vegetable is mildly bitter in taste and prepared in different ways, from crispy fried to stir fried dry curries. As a kid we used to call it the sweeter version of bitter gourd, as the spiny outer part resembles bitter gourd but tastes much less bitter. Ma makes a simple kankrol bhaja (fried teasel gourd) with it. She cuts the teasel gourd into thin roundels and fries them till crispy, I still love to have my Kankrol bhaja that way along with steamed rice and dal.

Other than the fried teasel gourd Ma also makes a stir fry with onion and green chilies, sometime she adds shrimps to it, making the simple dish exquisite. After my marriage I got introduced to a new recipe, where the teasel gourds are stuffed with a  coconut, mustard, poppy seed paste and deep fried. I learnt the details from my mother in law, and it's a mandatory dish to make every summer when teasel gourds are available. The dish is known by different names, pur bhora kankrol, kankrol er pur, though all translate to stuffed teasel gourd. As my mother in law calls it kankrol er pur, I do too. She dips the stuffed teasel gourd in rice flour batter, I exactly follow her recipe. But chickpea flour can also be used instead of rice flour.

As the process involves many steps, I have tried to explain it through the following video.

Things needed to make Kankrol er pur:

• Kankrol: 10-12
• Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
• Poppy seed: 3 tbsp
• Black mustard seed: 1 tbsp
• White mustard seed: 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Green chilies: 3-4
• Rice flour: 1 cup
• Flour (maida): 1/2 cup
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
• Red chili powder: 1/4 tsp
• Kalojire (nigella seed): 1 tsp
• Mustard oil to fry

Steps of making Kankrol er pur:

1. Take large teasel gourd, cut them lengthwise into two equal halves. Scrape the outer spiny skin, wash well.

2. Boil the teasel gourd till fork tender. I used a pressure cooker for this, I cooked the teasel gourd for 1 whistle. Let the teasel gourd cool down. Scoop the inner part of the teasel gourd.

3. Take freshly grated coconut, poppy seed, mustard seed, green chilies, little salt, sugar and make a smooth paste. Try to use as less water as possible.

4. Stuff the teasel gourd with the coconut paste.

5. Mix rice flour, flour, turmeric powder, red chili powder, nigella seed, little salt with water to make the batter.

6. Heat oil in a deep pan or kadhai, when hot, dip the stuffed teasel gourd in the batter and deep fry till golden brown. Serve hot with steamed rice and dal.

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