Air Fried Spiced Gointa (Pointed Gourd/ Parwal).

“Air Fried Spiced Gointa (Pointed Gourd/ Parwal)” … A simple snack prepared to be served as side dish or starter along with soups or rasam during winter time … Yummilicious … 

** Once again a delicious snack prepared in my Air Fryer to be served along with some hot steaming soup for dinner. I am completely in love with this technology which gives me the freedom to relish dishes almost oil free to my heart’s content. But here I must mention that one has to adapt to this taste and learn to bake it perfect on timings as otherwise it does not turn out as expected. Potatoes turn out the best while for other veggies I have yet to learn the proper adjustment in timings. Today I tried them out with gointa/ pointed gourd/ parwal and it was quite tasty. I need a few more trials to get that perfect crisp ones but then these were yummy too and tasted great with a bowl of mixed vegetable soup. 

** Here is my simple method of preparing “Air Fried Spiced Gointa (Pointed Gourd/ Parwal)” … My Style … 

** I have used about 200 gms of gointa/ pointed gourd/ parwal. 

** Wash, wipe dry and then slice off the edge portions of the pointed gourd and then cut them into ¼ inch thick round slices. Put them into a bowl of water and keep aside covered for about 20 minutes, this is done to soften and remove excess starch if any from ingredients.

** After soaking time, drain off excess water completely and pat it dry or put it in an colander for some time for the water to drain off. Apply 1 tblsp of oil all over the pieces gently with hand and then put it in the Air Fryer wire gauge bowl tossing well. 

** Run the air fryer at the temperature of around 200 deg for 4-5 minutes. Open mix well and run the machine once again at intervals of 2- 3 minutes till done mixing each time you stop the machine. Add the fried pieces into a stainless steel bowl. 

** Now sprinkle spices of your choice like either black pepper powder, red chilly powder, chat masasla or any other and toss well. I added on a dash of salt along with sambar powder and tossed it well. I found it too dry, so added on ½ a tsp of oil and mixed well. 

** “Air Fried Spiced Gointa (Pointed Gourd/ Parwal)” are done and ready to be served. I found that air fried dishes should always be served immediately or on resting they lose their shape and taste and at times turn out slightly chewy too, so spice them and serve on along with some soup immediately and enjoy them with family and friends. 

** I served these with hot vegetable tomato soup for dinner. If you have an air fryer do make best use of it. Slowly you will adapt to the taste, though I completely agree there is nothing like deep fried stuff, but then when you consider health point, it is worth it. 

** Note : Air fryer method serves best in case of small family as the machine is always small in size and holds minimum quantity only. So for larger families I guess you will have to try out deep frying method to save on time and consumption of electricity too. 

** Note: The timings and temperatures for air frying of dishes always vary from machine to machine, so I suggest you always go through the instruction booklet of your own machine for proper guidance.