Mum’s stuffed courgette curry (based on Snakecoy curry)

A visit to my home city (Sheffield) for the June bank holiday provided an ideal opportunity to document one my Mother’s many outstanding home cooked Anglo Indian dished that have stood the test of time (and taste) in our family.

The dish is basically the same as a ball curry (curried meatballs in sauce) but with the added attraction of some of the meat being stuffed into tender fresh courgettes, before being gently simmered in the sauce. The rest of the mince is shaped into balls and cooked.

The original version of this dish, in India, is normally cooked with an Asian vegetable called “Snakecoy” or “Snakegourd” which is a long light green vegetable, particularly suitable for stuffing.

Snake Coy (or Gourd)

Because these are  generally unavailable in the UK (although I did manage to buy some once in Tooting, South London – and when I took them home Mum made a magnificent dish from them), courgettes are a viable alternative and prove to be very tasty when cooked in the the curry.

Although I’ve seen Mum do this a few times, I still checked the recipe, because it is, without fail, always better than my own cooking…. years of experience there I think.. 🙂

I also was careful not to get to intrusive while trying to take photos, since I know how touchy I am when people are getting in my way in the kitchen…

Ingredients:

For the stuffing / meatballs

• 1lb mince (turkey, pork of beef or any combination of such)
• 1 small onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch pce ginger
• 2 green chillis (or more according to taste)
• 1 tsp dried mint
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 Mixed spice
• 2 green chillis

For the curry

• 8 Cloves
• 3-4 pces Cinnamon
• 8 curry leaves
• 2 large onions
• 2-3 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• About 4 courgettes
• 1 tin tomatoes
• 4 potatoes
• Small pce of coconut
• salt to taste
• hot water to (enough to cover the courgettes/meatballs)
• A squeeze of lemon
• some fresh coriander

The first step is to prepare the mince for the stuffing / meatballs.
Chop the onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies as finely as you can, and mix thoroughly the mince and the rest of the ingredients.
This can then be left to stand while you prepare the courgettes.

Stuffing / meatballs mixture

Hollow out the courgettes ready for stuffing. This is best done (carefully) with a small sharp knife.

Courgettes ready for stuffing

Stuff the courgettes and form the remaining mince into small meatballs and set aside.

To prepare the curry, first fry the cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves in hot oil for a few minutes.
Then add the chopped onion. When the onion has softened add the masalas (coriander powder, cumin, tumeric, mustard powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, chilli powder) and fry for another few minutes.

Frying the spices

When the spices have fried down sufficiently (take care they don’t burn on the bottom of the pan) carefully add the stuffed courgettes, meatballs, tomatoes, coconut and salt. Then pour in the hot water and bring to a gentle simmer.
After about 30 mins add the potatoes, simmer for another 15-20 mins.
As you can see from the photo below, must be gentle simmer since the stuffing has a propensity to want to work it’s way out of the courgettes if boiled to vigourously.

Simmering the curry

When the potatoes are cooked, add the fresh coriander and lemon, and serve.

On the plate