What makes a very simple dish special?

Bottle Gourd/Sorakaya pullakoora

So what makes a rather simple dish taste so special? Would you say it is the ingredients, or the hands that make the dish, the mood that we are in or something else? I personally feel it would be the passion that we cook the dish with, the love we cook the dish with....and last but not the least "SEASONING". Yes you read it right, seasoning with the right  ingredients, for the right amount of time on the right flame makes a ton of difference. I have always loved my mother's pappu/dal, be it the usual tomato pappu or very special thotakoora (amaranthus) Pappu. For so many years I wondered what was the big difference between both our ways. everything was the same except that Amma always seasoned dal on a high flame. She would wait until the oil is hot, then added mustard followed byred chilli and then curry leaves, and lastly not so finely diced onions and stirred only when they were about to be brown, and then finally poured the dal into the seasoning vessel not vice versa. Cut short the main story is of the Sorakaya Pullagoora recipe..and given a chance I will never have any end to talk about my mom's cooking. Its never anything other than "perfect".
Here is the ingredient list

1. Sorakaya/ bottle gourd
2.  One larg tomato
3. green chillies ( thai would be good for people like us living outside India) about 12-13
4. small lime sized tamarind
5. Roughly diced onions
6. Hand ful of coriander chopped

Seasoning
mustard seeds, curry leaves, Roughly diced onions (1/2 onion medium sized), dried red chillies.

Speaking about this particular recipe, growing up I never tasted Sorakaya at all believe it or not. Only after I met my dear husband I started loving many vegetables that I never got to taste. But Bottle gourd, hmm I never knew what I could make out of it other than using it in sambar until I ate something of Pullakoora sorts at one of my good friend A's home. It was a very mild version of pullakoora, cooked in a pressure cooker and fed to Kids.And kids loved  eating it with rice.  Later I thought this could be an absolutely fantastic idea to make a pullakoora out of Bottle gourd. And then there I was making it more often and liking it to the fullest extent. So here it is

The recipe
I particularly donot want to use pressure cooker for most dishes including dals, cooking it in a vessel other than pressure cooker gives it an authentic taste I feel. But people who are in short of time can use the cooker. So with a spoon of vegetable oil in a deep pan, add the green chillies and sorakaya pieces followed by tomato cut into rough chunks. Donot add water, instead add salt which lets out the water from the gourd, when almost done add the tamarind soaked in water cover with a lid and wait for 5 minutes. Take it off the heat, mash it with a Pappu gitta (special dal masher made of wood) and then mash it once again after coriander is added. Now in the same pan ( wipe off the water in the pan) add 2 tea spoons oil wait till hot add mustard seeds. When you hear the spluttering sounds add red chillies followed by curryleaves. Then add the entire mashed pulp into the seasoning vessel and turn off the heat.

There you go you have the most wonderful yet simple dish that gets its flavor because of seasoning. You can also do the same Pullakoora with the following other main ingredients
1. Thotakoora Pullakoora (Amaranthus)
2. Gongura/ Sorrel leaves
3. Fresh peanuts and Thotakoora/chukkakoora
4.Vankaya/Brinjal and any green leaves like thotakoora/chukkakoora/gongura

Follow the other steps of the procedure and you can make the most delicious dish on earth which goes well with ragi mudda/plain rice.

Bye now folks. OOh I am so happy today because I am back after a long time, it gives me a sort of fulfillment.