Patol bhaja (fried pointed gourd)

Last week I went to the vegetable market and could not resist the temptation of young and fresh "patol" (pointed gourd in English, parwal in Hindi). Only when paying for it did I realized that it was one of the most expensive vegetables in this season at Rs 60 a kg. And after buying it I did not get the time to cook it. So when I opened the fridge today I found them getting dry and yellow. So I had to cook all of them and I made two dishes out of these. The first is fry described here.

Ingredients:
pointed gourd : 6
salt : 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
oil : 4 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Cut each gourd into two longitudinally.
2. Mix salt and turmeric powder with the gourd pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a pan.
4. Put the gourd pieces on the oil. Spread them such that they don't overlap.
5. Cover the pan and cook at low heat for 7-8 minutes.
6. Take the lid off and turn the gourd pieces to the other side. Sprinkle a little water (about 1-2 tbsp) on them to prevent drying. Cover again and cook for another 7-8 minutes.
7. Check if they are soft enough to be cut with a spoon. If so, they are ready. Otherwise go back to step 6.

Barbecued king fish with cumin and coriander powder

Ingredients:

1. King fish fillet - 1 (~500 g)
2. Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
3. Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
4. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
5. Bay leaves - 2
6. Salt - 2 tbsp
7. Cooking oil - 4 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Wash the fish with water and let it drip dry.
2. Add salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and oil and crush the bay leaves with hand and rub them all in.
3. Leave for 1/2 - 1 hour.
4. Slowly barbecue it.

Barbecued King fish with mustard paste

Ingredients:

1. King fish fillet - 1 (~500 g)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_king_mackerel, but what we get here in Bangalore does not have spots, looks more like this: http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/106908407/King_Fish.jpg)
2. Black mustard seed (whole) - 2 tsp
3. Black jeera (nigella seed) - 1 tsp
3. Black pepper corn - 1 tsp
4. Garlic - 6 cloves
5. Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
6. Salt - 2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Wash the fish with water and dry it by letting the water drip off.
2. Rub salt and oil on it.
3. Soak the mustard, black jeera and pepper corn in a small amount of water (just enough to submerge them - about 3 tbsp) for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic cloves and make a paste out of all these (the mustard will naturally tend to remain coarser, which is fine).
5. Rub the paste on the fish. Leave for 30-60 minutes.
67. Slowly barbecue the fish on a grill or using a skewer.