Dish of Snake Gourd with Coconut
(click to enlarge)

Snake Gourd with Coconut


India - Kerala   -   Padavalanga Thoran
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 side
**
35 min
Yes		 A light gourd dish suitable as a side for both Indian and Western dishes. Texture and appearance will differ with size and shape of gourd and how it's cut.




1-1/4
1/2
8
2
2
1/2
10
3
1/8
1/2
1/2
1-1/2
1/3
#
c
oz
oz
cl
t


t
t
t
T
c
Snake Gourd (1)
Coconut, grated (2)  
Onion
Shallots
Garlic
Mustard seed
Curry Leaves (3)
Dried Chili (4)
Turmeric
Chili Powder (5)
Salt
Oil
Water
PREP   (15 min)
  1. Cut GOURD into bite size pieces. In most cases it is not necessary to peel.
  2. Grate COCONUT fine if fresh, or soak if dried grated, (see Note-2).
  3. Chop ONION small. Chop SHALLOTS fine. Chop GARLIC fine. Mix.
  4. Break off stem end of CHILIS and shake out the seeds.
RUN   (20 min)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan, heat Oil. Stir in Mustard Seeds. When they start to pop, stir in Chilis and Curry Leaves just a few seconds until the chilis start to darken.
  2. Stir in Onion mix and fry stirring over moderate heat until translucent.
  3. Stir in Gourd, Turmeric and Chili Powder. Fry stirring over moderate heat for about 4 minutes.
  4. Stir in Water and Salt. Simmer covered until gourd is tender - 5 to 10 minutes depending on gourd and cut size.
  5. Stir in Coconut for about 1 minute. At this point you can pull out the curry leaves and chilis if you wish (chopsticks work well).
  6. Serve with plenty of steamed Basmati rice.
NOTES:

  1. Snake Gourd:

      Found in markets serving an Indian community, there are several sizes and shapes of this gourd, ranging from 3 foot and 1 inch diameter to much thicker. The the photo example was made from the snakiest form, 1-1/4 inch by 30 inches. For details see our Snake Gourd page. You could also use Bottle Gourd (Opo) which is more easily available, but it needs to be peeled. For details see our Bottle Gourd page.

  2. Coconut:

      Measure is for fresh grated coconut. If that isn't available use 1/3 cup of dried grated coconut (unsweetened) with enough water to make up 1/2 cup. Drain before using. For details on handling coconuts, see our Coconut page.

  3. Curry Leaves:

      There is no substitute for this near essential ingredient. For details see our Curry Leaf page.

  4. Dried Chili:

      Here you have a lot of discretion. I use moderately hot Chilis Japonnes, which are not Indian, but the Indian markets in North America all have them. For details see our Indian Chilis page.

  5. Chili Powder

      The medium hot Reshampatti is appropriate - or for milder use Kashmir. For details see our Indian Chilis page.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove, in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

isv_snake1 100406 Pachakam
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