Karwar Style Ambade Udid Methi Recipe – Hog Plum Curry

Karwar Style Ambade Udid Methi Recipe (Hog Plum Curry) is a vegetarian curry from the Karwari Goud Saraswat Brahmin cuisine. Karwar, which is a city in Karnataka lies at the mouth of the river Kali. Coconut, Jaggery, Coriander Seeds and Red Dry Chillies form the base of most of the gravy dishes in the Karwari GSB cuisine. One such gravy made commonly in all homes there is udid methi which can be made using raw mangoes too instead of Ambade. Course : Lunch Ingridients : 5 Hog Plum (Amtekai) , (Ambade) 3/4 cup Fresh coconut , grated  1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1 tablespoon Coriander (Dhania) Seeds 1 teaspoon Black Urad Dal (Split) 1 teaspoon Rice , (raw rice) 1/4 teaspoon Methi Seeds (Fenugreek Seeds) 6 Whole Black Peppercorns 4 Dry Red Chilli 2 tablespoons Jaggery 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing) 1 Karela (Bitter Gourd/ Pavakkai) , (Small) Salt , to taste 2 teaspoons Oil For Tempering 2 teaspoons Oil 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds (Rai/ Kadugu) 1 pinch Asafoetida (hing) Instructions To begin making the Karwar Style Ambade Udid Methi Recipe (Hog Plum Curry), firstly, scrape away the outer layer of the bitter gourd, clean it from inside and cut it into thin rings. Apply a bit of salt to it (I used 1/4 teaspoon), toss well to coat and keep aside for about an hour to do away with the bitterness of bitter gourd. After an hour, wash the chopped bitter gourd thoroughly and keep aside to drain. Use a little oil and roast the bitter gourd rings on low heat in a kadai till crisp. Peel and clean the Ambade meanwhile when the bitter gourd is roasting on low heat. Heat a little oil in a kadai (a few drops each time) and lightly roast the coriander seeds, urad dal, methi seeds, rice grains, peppercorns, asafoetida piece and dry red chillies separately on low heat.As soon as each ingredient changes its colour, remove from flame and keep aside to cool.Once cooled, grind all these ingredients in a mixer grinder along with the grated coconut, using required water to form a smooth paste. Add to this paste to a cup of water and mix well to form a semi-thick gravy and pour in the kadai.Now, add turmeric powder, ambade/hog plum/amtekai, jaggery, roasted bitter gourd rings, salt to taste and keep on a high heat stirring occasionally till it reaches boiling point. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat and simmer for about 8-10 minutes or till the ambade are cooked and soft. If you feel that the gravy has thickened too much by now, just add some water to bring back a medium consistency which is desirable.Check for seasoning and adjust salt and jaggery if required. In a tadka pan, heat a bit of oil for tempering and when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Pour this over the prepared udid methi.Serve Karwar Style Ambade Udid Methi Recipe (Hog Plum Curry) along with Steamed Rice and Sol Kadhi for a South Indian meal.