White Peas~ Snake Gourd Green Masala Curry.

“White Peas~ Snake Gourd Green Masala Curry” … a simple side dish prepared with inclusion of dried white vatana and poddale along with coarsely ground masala, that tastes delicious served roti/ parathas/ dosa or dal- chawal … Yummilicious ….

** I have often wondered how best can snake gourd ie poddale in konkani be used along with other ingredients to turn out into delicious dishes. Simple upkari, sanna polo using inner seeds and there are a few more dishes prepared regularly in saraswat homes. However, I was always eager to try out more dishes trying various other combos.

** Tried out this veggie this time with addition of whole white peas/ vatana which is otherwise usually prepared with chana dal. Well, I tried this variation with flavorful green/ hara masala addition and it turned out great with addition of both in combo and I for a change served it with dosa (which I will be posting after this one) instead of roti/ paratha.

** Here is my recipe for “White Peas Snake Gourd Green Masala Curry” … my style …

** Soak one cup of dried white vatana/ peas in plenty of water for 6-8 hours or overnight. Wash it again and add it into pressure cooker along with enough water, say about an inch above the level of  vatana layer and pressure cook to 2 whistles or till done.

** Slightly scrape off outer whitish skin of poddale/ snake gourd (250 gms), then cut it lengthwise into two, remove the inner seeds and keep it aside and then cut again lengthwise into two ie in all 4 lengthwise strips and then cut it into 1/3 inch pieces.

** Note : Do not discard inner seeds of poddale/ snake gourd, you can keep it aside stored in fridge for a day or so and prepare sanna polo/ spicy dosa, a famous konkani Saraswat dish served during lunchtime. It has been blogged do use search option.

** To be ground into a paste : Grind to a coarse paste ½ cup of pudina (mint) leaves, 1 cup of coriander leaves (dhania/ kottambari pallo), 3-4 green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi), ½ inch piece of ginger (alle’/ adrak), a tblsp of tamarind (imly/ chinchama), ½ cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) with some water.

** Add the snake gourd pieces into a kadai and cook it to 70% sprinkling just a little bit of water. You can pressure cook just to one whistle, remove the weight gently and use the same too, however it should not be over cooked, so be careful if using that method. Now add in the pressure cooked vatana along with the cooked water if any and mix well.

** Add salt (namak/ meeta) to taste, ¼ tsp of hing (asfoetida) powder, large pinch of haldi (turmeric) powder, 1 tblsp of malvani masala powder (or any other curry powder, like pav bhaji, chole, etc), 1 tblsp of jaggery (goda/ gud/ bella), mix well. Add in ground masala too, mix well and cook covered on low heat till almost done to a semi dry texture.

** For Tempering : Heat 1 tblsp oil (tel/ tela), add ½ tsp of mustard seeds (rai/ sasam) when it splutters add ½ tsp of urad dal (black gram dal), when color changes add ½ tsp of jeera (cumin seeds), 8-10 curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu), 2-3 whole ball red chillies (or any other dry red chillies), fry for a few seconds and pour over the curry, mix well, cover and cook for about another 5-7 minutes and it is done.

** “White Peas Snake Gourd Green Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. This is a semi dry textured tasty dish that goes well as served as a side dish along with dal- chawla and other dishes at lunchtime or dinner. However, in my opinion it tastes awesome served with chapathi/ parathas/ dosa/ poori etc. and you must try out those options.

** I served it along with AlsandeBee’-Chane Dali-Tandla Polo (Black Eyed Bean- Bengal Gram Dal- Rice Dosa), Pudina Dhania Nariyal Chutney (Mint Corriander Coconut Chutney) and Ginger Tea (Adraki Chai) for breakfast and it tasted simply wonderful. A very scrumptious tummy filling breakfast when you need to hit the road for hours at stretch.

** I have often come across certain dishes prepared with snake gourd in combination of chana dal and I must mention here that if you do not have dried whole white peas (safed vatana) you can substitute with chana dal (bengal gram dal) too in which case just wash and soak it for 30 minutes and then pressure cook to one whistle, rest method as above.

** There are many more “Side Dishes/ Cury" varieties shared before in my Blog here, do go through them in leisure and try them out and enjoy with your family. They are all very tasty, tried and tested in my own kitchen, query if any can be mailed/ commented in blog to me and I will get back as soon as possible.