Receipe for beerakaya royyalu (Shrimp with Ridged Gourd). This dish is mainly cooked in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Meat and vegetables are usually not mixed in Andhra dishes..so I thought this one deserves a blog entry.
Ingredients :
- Shrimp (uncooked, medium size)
- Beera Kaya (Ridged Gourd.. you can get it at an Indian grocery)
- Red Onions
- Red Chilli Powder
- Salt
- Ginger Garlic Paste
- Coconut Milk (check out the ethnic aisle in any grocery)
- Cloves
- Cardamoms
- Cilantro
- Garam Masala (ground spices..another thing you can get at an Indian grocery)
- Vegetable Oil
Preperation :
- Peel and cut the ridged gourd into medium sized cubes and the onions into small pieces.
- Cook the shrimp (2lbs) in coconut milk (3 tablespoons) and ginger garlic paste (2 teaspoons) without adding any water for ~20 minutes. There is no need to add water, since the shrimp has a lot of water in it. This process helps with cooking the shrimp and elimninating the “fishy” odour.
- Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the cloves, cardamoms. Add the onions after a couple of minutes.
- When the onions turn golden, add the shrimp.
- Add some more ginger garlic, red chilli powder and salt
- Wait for a couple of minutes and add the ridge gourd
- Let the whole disk cook for ~15 minutes (let the water evaporate).
- Add the garam masala and cilantro
- Serve hot with rice.
Visuals  :
Shrimp being boiled with coconut milk and ginger garlic 
Chopped Onion and peeled beera kaya
Shrimp and Beera Kaya cooking together
Beerakaya Royyalu served hot with rice