Podalangai Curry is one of the traditional sides of a Tamil Nadu meal. This Snake Gourd Curry is simple to make and can be made in about half an hour
Podalangai or snake gourd is one of my ever favorite vegetables. I never really thought that I would miss this vegetable so much after I moved to the US. This is one of the vegetables that are hard to find here in US markets.
I used to buy this frozen and use it, but I never really liked it. Once we started our backyard vegetable gardening, we slowly started focusing on planting vegetables that are hard to find here in the US.
This is one such crop that we wait patiently for the whole season to grow.
Once we started planting these, I cooked them to my heart's content through the fall and also froze some for later. My husband and my older son love to eat it raw. So whenever I cut these to make podalangai curry or kootu, I have to reserve some for them.
The pictures below are of some snake gourds grown in my garden last year. My plants are still young for this season and I will come up with more recipes once they are ready.
Preparation time – 10 mins
Cooking time – 25 mins
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Podalangai Curry – (serves 4)
- Podalangai/Snake gourd – 1 large or 3 small ones (about 4 cups chopped)
- Payatham Paruppu/Split moong dal – ¼ cup
- Coconut (grated) – ½ cup
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Ullutham paruppu/urad dal – 2 tsp
- Red chilies – 3
- Karuveppilai /Curry leaves – one sprig (about 10 leaves)
- Asafetida – ½ tsp
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Salt – to taste
- Sugar – 1 teaspoon (optional)
Procedure to make Snake Gourd Curry –
- Wash and clean the snake gourd and cut it vertically down in the middle.
- You will notice that there are seeds in the middle with some fibrous membranes to protect the seeds. Use a spoon and scoop the seeds out. Now chop it into thin half-inch slices.
- Boil the snake gourd with moong dal in enough water. Once the water starts to boil, add the salt and continue to cook.
- Cook them just until al dente and then drain them in a colander.
- Now heat oil in a sauté pan and add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves, and asafetida.
- Once the mustard seeds sputter, add the cooked vegetable and mix it well. Add the sugar, if using, and then cook until all the moisture disappears and the curry looks dry.
- Now add the grated coconut and mix it well one last time.
- Serve the Podalangai Curry with rice and sambhar/rasam!
Other Curry Recipes
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Recipe
Podalangai Curry | South Indian Dry Snake Gourd Curry
Equipment
- pan
- bowl
- spatula
Ingredients
- 4 cups Podalangai/Snake gourd About 1 large or 3 small ones chopped
- ¼ cup Payatham Paruppu/Split moong dal
- ½ cup Coconut Grated
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon Ullutham paruppu/urad dal
- 3 Red chilies
- One sprig Karuveppilai /Curry leaves About 10 leaves
- ½ teaspoon Asafetida
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- to taste Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar Optional
Instructions
- Wash and clean the snake gourd and cut it vertically down in the middle.
- You will notice that there are seeds in the middle with some fibrous membranes to protect the seeds. Use a spoon and scoop the seeds out. Now chop it into thin half-inch slices.
- Boil the snake gourd with moong dal in enough water. Once the water starts to boil, add the salt and continue to cook.
- Cook them just until al dente and then drain it in a colander.
- Now heat oil in a sauté pan and add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilies, curry leaves, and asafetida.
- Once the mustard seeds sputter, add the cooked vegetable and mix it well. Add the sugar, if using, and then cook until all the moisture disappears the curry looks dry.
- Now add the grated coconut and mix it well one last time.
- Serve the Podalangai Curry with rice and sambhar/rasam!
divya says
looks gr8. loved ur presentation 🙂
sangeetha pn says
I too prepare almost the same way.. I'm feeling lucky that I get snakegourd here.. Or else even we will have to start gardening as this is one such vegetable liked by both me and Mr S. 🙂 Curry looks awesome and your garden too... 🙂 First time in your space and very glad to follow you.. Do visit in your free time my space https://enelm.blogspot.de/
Sangeetha Priya says
delicious curry and beautiful backyard Sandhya....
Swathi Iyer says
Delicious Podalangai, Your prince enjoy picking them. Great poriyal.
Priya Suresh says
Wow home grown snake gourd that fabulous..Even i love this curry with loads of coconut.