This is a weird vegetable for sure. True to its name, the gourds look like slithering snakes with their bodies etched with pale green and white stripes.
They grow easily in North Texas, which is my home. Surprisingly, I haven’t grown this veggie yet. Reasons? First off, they are a climbing vine and need to creep horizontally once they reach up. For this purpose, there needs to be a wire “roof” for the vines to grow and for the gourds to hang down. For another, they are prolific producers! Some are known to grow 6 feet in length, depending on the cultivar! What would I do with 50 snake gourds? Even if I begged my friends and neighbors to take them, there would be way too many of them. And I hate food waste! And nope…food pantries in my area will not accept them.
A Snake Gourd Farm
I wanted to showcase the snake gourd flower. See how delicate and utterly fascinating the blooms are? A friend once said she doesn’t like to grow vegetables since their flowers are not pretty. Ha! So far from the truth!
Snake Gourd Flower
Potlakaya Curry | Snake Gourd Recipe | Pudalangai Poriyal
Snake gourds are popular in the Indian cuisine, and it is small wonder that they have found themselves as part of the Ayurvedic medicine and lifestyle niches. They are often used as a cooling agent; it makes sense because this plant grows in the summertime.
I made this dish under my mother’s able direction when I visited India earlier this year. My mom, at nearly age 90, continues to cook daily to feed herself and my dad. Over the years, her dishes have become remarkably simple, but even more delicious – probably because of how uncomplicated the recipes are. They just bring out the flavor of simple spices and of the very vegetable that’s featured in the dish.
Just as her other recipes, this snake gourd (we call it padavalayi/padavalkai) recipes shines in its simplicity. Mung dal is just a companion for the al dente style snake gourd pieces. The only spice in this dish is the byadige dry red chilis (these are lot less spicy than their fiery counterpart – the Guntur chilis).
A Simple Meal with Snake Gourd Curry
Snake Gourd is an amazing low-calorie, high fiber vegetable. It contains vital vitamins and minerals like vitamins A, C, B6, E, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and iron. Combined with additional fiber and tons of protein from moong dal, and healing and anti-inflammatory properties from turmeric and red chilis, this delectable curry is a must try. Snake Gourd is complementary to a ketogenic diet.
Simple Gourd Dishes Galore
How many types of Indian gourds do you eat? If you love simple, no fuss, no muss curries made from a variety of gourds like bottle gourd, spine gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd and bitter gourd, below are some that you can try out:
- Spine Gourd Sauté
- Ridge Gourd Chutney Powder Sauté
- Bottle Gourd Fenugreek Curry
- Kadi – Spicy Butter Milk Soup (with Bottle Gourd)
- Bitter Gourd (Karela) Curry (Hagalakayi Gojju/Menasakayi)
- Snake Gourd Coconut Sauté
- Bottle Gourd Sesame Powder Sauté
- Sautéed Bitter Gourd (Karela)
- Ridge Gourd Chutney
- Dehydrated Masala Karela (Bitter Gourd) Chips
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Snake Gourd Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/4 Cup Yellow Mung - Split
- 4 Cups Snake Gourd - 2 medium gourds cut into 1" cubes
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 4 Dry Red Chili - Byadige variety. Guntur will make it spicy
- 1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt - Or to taste
- 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Lime Juice - Optional
Instructions
- On a medium flame, dry roast the mung until the raw smells goes away, but before it starts to brown. Don't skip the roasting of mung dal. Roasting makes it very aromatic.Wash mung dal, cover the dal with enough water and cook on medium flame, stirring frequently, until it is fully cooked. The dal should be holding its shape.
- While the dal is cooking, chop the ends of the snake gourd. Cut lengthwise in half and remove the seeds.
- Cut the snake gourd into 1" cubes.
- In a pan, heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds. Add dry red chili (I have used the milder byadige variety) and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add cut snake gourd. Add salt and turmeric powder.
- Close the lid and allow the vegetable to cook. Open the lid and mix well and couple of times.
- When the snake gourd pieces are crisply cooked, add the mung dal. Mix well and turn off the heat.
- Before serving, squeeze a bit of lime or lemon juice. This is optional. The dish is delicious without lime juice too.
