Peerkangai puli masiyal / Mashed Ridge gourd and tamarind gravy

My mom used to make this awesome puli masiyal/ mashed gravy of ridge-gourd and I used to devour it. I thought she was the one who came up with this recipe. It was only in my early adulthood, I learnt that my paati (grand-mom) used to make it and she learnt it from her. This is one more dish that I am adding to the peerkangai/ridge-gourd recipes that is tantalizingly tasty.

Peerkangai/Ridgegourd

Ingredients

Ridgegourd                                                250 gms

Tamarind                                                   1 big lemon sized ball

Groundnuts                                                 handful

Sambhar powder                                          1 and 1/4 tsp

Salt                                                            As needed

To temper

Indian Sesame oil/ Til ka thel                       1 tblspn

Mustard seeds                                             1/2 tsp

Green chillies                                              2 nos slit

Vendhayam/Methi seeds                               1/2 tsp

Asafoetida                                                   1 pinch

Method

1. Soak groundnuts in  warm water (very little, just to immerse it) for 15 mins.
2. Simultaneously, peel peerkangai/ridge-gourd completely( none of the green peel should be left. We can save the peels for peerkangai thol thogayal/ Ridge-gourd peel chutney)and cut to tiny square pieces as we cut them for kootu.
3.  Soak tamarind in warm water and extract tamarind syrup.
4. Heat a saucepan in low to medium heat and add sesame oil. Add mustard seeds to splutter
5. Add methi seeds and fry till golden brown. Add slit green chillies and fry till it changes color.
6. Add asafoetida and let the powder fry. Add cut peerkangai/ridge-gourd and bring the heat to low. Mix thoroughly until all the tempered ingredients and peerkangai mixes well. Then bring the heat to medium-low. Ridge-gourd/peerkangai waters itself a little and cooks . Let it cook for 3-4 mins. Keep mixing occasionally and mash it a little. It should not become completely mushy. It should retain its shape a little and should be mashed a little. 
7. After half-cooking peerkangai/ridge-gourd, add soaked groundnuts along with its water and mix well. Leave it for a minute.
8. Now add the extracted tamarind syrup and  sambhar powder and mix well and let it come to a boil. Let the mixture boil thoroughly for 10- 15 more mins until the raw smell of sambhar powder changes to a nice aroma. 
9. Add salt, stir well and let it boil for 5 mins and switch off the stove.

Peerkangai puli masiyal / Mashed Ridge-gourd and tamarind gravy is ready to be had with hot rice and any vegetable side dish.  It goes very well with curd rice and dosas too as a side dish.