Recipe: Chori Turia Nu Shaak
Chori Turia Nu Shaak is a simple and yet very flavourful and healthy stir fry consisting of ridge gourd and long yard beans. It is a vegan side dish and can be gluten free if you don’t add asafoetida. Can easily omit garlic to make it into a no garlic onion sabji or shaak. Both are cooked in simple spices and generally enjoyed with some hot rotli and tuvar ni dal or kadhi.
What is Chori Turia Nu Shaak?
A simple vegetable side dish or sabji is called shaak in Gujarati. It is usually enjoyed with some rotli or paratha along with a dal and some rice. A typical daily Gujarati meal at my home is one or two shaak, dal or kadhi, roti, chaas and a salad. If I make roti then I don’t make rice, if there is rice on the menu then rotis will not be made. Chori Turia nu Shaak is just simply a mixture of chori and turia. Ridge gourd is a popular vegetable in India and is known as turai, turia. Long yard beans are known as chori in Gujarati. Chori (Vigna Sinensis) is also known as yard long beans, asparagus beans, Chinese long beans or snake beans. The ones available in India and the ones I’ve seen in Indonesia are really long. Turia is ridge gourd.
Other Shaaks
Most daily Gujarati shaaks or vegetables are simple with few spices. Many homes use fresh ginger and fresh green chilis, little or no red chili powder, turmeric powder and all have dhana jiru powder added at the end. Dhana is coriander and jiru is cumin. Every Gujarati Masala(spice)box or tin will have dhana jiru powder.
Here are some simple shaaks you may like:
What Else Can Be Added To Chori?
Try replacing the turia or ridge gourd with chopped brinjal or cook it with some peas. Adding cubed potatoes is another option.
Memories: My Father in Law Loved Chori Turia Nu Shaak
Every Saturday, my father in law loved going veggie shopping to the famous Old Mackinnon Market in Mombasa. Old Mackinnon Market or Markiti as its commonly known was built by the British Company JL Limited in the year 1914 to serve mainly the colonialists. Yes, that’s how old the market is. Years ago it served as a trading centre and was named and opened by then the British Governor of Kenya, Sir Henry Mackinnon. The market is now gazetted as a National Monument. I love going to the market for all my fruits and vegetables. Just the riot of colors, aroma of spices, the sweet fruits beckoning you and familiar faces makes the trip worth while. So coming back to my father in law, whenever he would go to the market, he would not miss buying chori as it was his favorite. And it had to be chori and turia.
Sharing Chora Turia Nu Shaak With Foodies_Redoing Old Posts
This post has been updated for the Facebook group called Foodie’s_Redoing Old Posts. It is a group that Renu who blog’s at Cook With Renu, thought out and put into action. We’re on our 13th Foodies Redoing Old Posts and I simply love this group. Why? Well, it has got me to pay more attention to my much neglected old posts. For this post I have updated the pictures and a bit of the write up of the Gujarati style of using yard long beans and ridge gourd to make a simple and yet delicious and healthy side dish, sabji or shaak. However, the recipe remains the same.
Ingredients Required To Prepare Chori Turia Nu Shaak
Chori
Also known a yardlong beans, barbati, chawli,. They are very long green beans. Choose tender ones. The older pods can be easily opened and you remove the seeds. The tender chawli or chori is cut into ¼ inch pieces. Remove the top and end bits before chopping them.
Turia
Also known as ridge gourd, turai. Choose tender ones. If you press and it gives way even a little bit, the turai has become old. It will not cook properly. Also you need to trim the ends and taste a bit of flesh from both ends to make sure the turai or turia is not bitter. Peel the turai a bit. I usually remove the ridge part and leave a bit of the peel. If the turia are tender the peel will cook easily.
Oil
We need about 1 tbsp of oil . I usually use sunflower oil. Use any oil of your choice.
Mustard Seeds
Rai or sarson ke dane. We need some for the tempering or vaghar.
Cumin Seeds
Also known as jiru or jeera. We need some for the tempering or vaghar.
Carom Seeds
Ajwain or ajmo. We will be adding some to the tempering.
Green Chillis
I prefer to mince the chillis and add to the shaak. However, you can slice them thinly if you wish. Add according to your taste.
Ginger
Peel and minced or grated.
Garlic
An optional ingredient. Peel and slice them or mince.
Turmeric Powder
Haldi, hardar. We need some to add to the shaak.
Coriander Cumin Powder
Known as dhana jiru. It is an essential spice mix for Gujarati cooking. If you don’t have dhana jiru you can easily add 1 tsp coriander powder and ¼ tsp cumin powder.
Asafoetida
Also known as hing. Adds an earthy umami flavour. Omit if you want a gluten free shaak or sabji as hing powder contains wheat flour. Unless, you get pure asafoetida.
Salt
Add according to your taste.
Red Chilli Powder
As we add green chillis, we generally don’t use red chilli powder. However, if you want to, go ahead and add according to your taste.
Sugar Or Jaggery
I personally don’t add as turia tend to be a little sweetish. If you want to, add sugar or jaggery according to your taste.
Fresh Coriander
Washed and chopped, including the tender stems as they are full of flavour. Add some to the shaak and some for garnishing.
Go on check out the recipe for this simple shaak and enjoy it.
CHORI TURIA NU SHAAK
Ingredients
- 4 cups chori (500g) chopped
- 2½ cups turia diced
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp carom seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 tsp green chilli paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander cumin powder
- 1 to 1¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar optional
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
Instructions
- Wash the yard long beans. Trim both the ends and chop the beans into about ¼ inch thickness. If you find some of the beans are not tender then open them up and remove the tender beans.Throw the peel away and mix the beans with the chopped beans.
- Wash and peel the ridge gourd. Chop of the ends and taste it to make sure that the ridge gourd is not bitter.
- I don't like to peel the skin off completely. Cut the turia or ridge gourd into cubes.
- Heat oil in a wide pan. When it is hot add mustard, cumin and carom seeds.
- When they begin to splutter add the chopped garlic. Stir fry till the garlic becomes light pink.
- Add ginger and chilli pastes, turmeric powder and asafoetida.
- Add the chopped turia and chori.
- Add salt and sugar If using any. Mix well.
- Cover and let the vegetables cook for 10 minutes over low heat. If you want to make it in the pressure cooker, then let it cook over low heat for 1 whistle only.
- Add dhana jiru and mix well.
- Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve.
Notes
- Can add red chilli powder if you like.
- Taste the ridge gourd from both ends before cutting. It can be bitter sometimes.
- To buy fresh ridge gourd, press it gently between your thumb and finger. If it is soft then its not fresh. Should be a bit firm.
- Dhana jiru is available ready made in Indian shops. However, its very easy to make it at home. Take 1 part coriander seeds and ¼ part cumin seeds. Roast them separately till you get a pleasant aroma. Let the seeds cool and then grind to a powder.
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