Pudalangai Kootu
recipe Image
 
Cooking Snake gourd with Indian spices and lentils makes a tastier side-dish.
Preparation Time : 10 mins

Cooking Time : 10-15 mins

Serves : Family of four
Ingredients:
  • Snake gourd (Pudalngaai) / Marrow - 1 or 250g
  • Mung dal - 75g or 1/3 of a teacup
  • Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
  • Green chilli - 1 for medium spicy or 2 for very spicy
  • Grated coconut - 1 tblsp
  • Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves - few (optional)
  • Oil - 2 tsp
  • Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
  • Salt - to taste
  • Water - as required

Method:



  1. Rinse the dal and drain it.


  2. Peel off the vegetable, cut it diagonally, remove all the seeds and chop it into 1cm slices.


  3. ** Heat a pressure cooker pan on the stove.


  4. ** Add dhal, about 1/2 a cup of water and half the turmeric powder.


  5. ** Cover and pressure cook. Switch off after first whistle and open when the pressure is gone.


  6. In a separate pan, cook the vegetable with salt, and rest of the turmeric powder.


  7. Grind coconut, fennel seeds and chillies with 1-2 tblsp of water into a smooth paste.


  8. Add the ground mix and cooked dal to the pan of cooked vegetables and let it cook for few minutes.


  9. Heat a frying pan. Add oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let them pop.


  10. Add this seasoning to the cooked vegetables and dal pan.


  11. Stir and serve.


** - If the pressure cooker is not available, replace the steps 3-5 above starting with the symbol ** with the following steps and continue to step 6 above.



  1. Heat a 2ltr saucepan on a high heat.


  2. Add dal, about 350ml of water and half the turmeric powder.


  3. Once the water starts boiling, simmer the heat, cover and cook for about 35-40 minutes or until the dal is cooked. Leave the lid half open to stop the water overflowing.


  4. Open the lid, stir few times and make sure there is enough water left for the dal to be cooked.
Notes:
Click <a target="_blank" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Trichosanthes_Cucumerina_aka_Snake_Gourd.jpeg"> here </a>for Snake gourd image. It is suitable for Rice and <a href="/recipes/Sambar">Sambar</a>, <a href="/recipes/Rasam">Rasam</a>, <a href="/recipes/Dhal">Dhal</a>, <a href="/recipes/Tamarind-egg-Curry">Tamarind Egg Curry</a>, <a href="/recipes/Tamarind-egg-omlette-curry">Tamarind egg omlette curry</a> or <a href="/recipes/Garlic-curry">Garlic curry</a>. Please try <a href="/recipes/Spinach-Dhal-curry-02">Spinach and Dhal curry 02</a>, <a href="/recipes/Marrow-lentils-curry">Marrow and lentils curry</a>, <a href="/recipes/Green-Tomatoes-lentils-curry">Pachai thakkali kootu</a> or <a href="/recipes/Marrow-stirfry-02">Snake gourd stirfry</a> for the variation. Snake gourd can be replaced by Marrow/pumpkin/bottle guord.