Padavalanga Thoran, a Kerala based recipe commonly used in most of the houses of South India. Snakegourd/ Padavalanga help our body to maintain its normal function and create a cooking effect in human body. It is very much useful in treating Type II diabetics to reduce weight and helps in constipation as this vegetable is rich in Fiber. Now a day’s padavalanga/ snake gourd is easily available in market and comparing with other vegetables, rate is very low. So thought of making something traditional recipe with this vegetable and utilize my household items for this tasty and delicious side dish. Snake gourd makes a good combination with chanadal and requires very less time to cook. Padavalanga cooked with some fresh grated coconut and typical Kerala spices gives a very good taste. We can also call this dish as Padavanlaga parippu thoran.
Ingredients:
- Padavalanga/ Snake gourd – 500gms
- Cheruulli/ Small onions/ shallots – 3nos
- Kadala Parippu/ Chanadal – 3tbsp
- Oil – 1tsp
- Salt as per taste
Ingredients For grinding:
- Fresh Grated Coconut – ¼ cup
- Cheruulli/ Small onions/ shallots – 2nos
- Garlic pods – 2nos
- Green chilies – 3nos
- Cumin seeds – a pinch
- Turmeric powder – a pinch
Ingredients For tempering:
- Mustard seeds/ Rai – 1tsp
- Urad Dal – 1tsp
- Curry leaves – 3 leaves
Method:
- Cook chanadal adding ½ glass water in pressure cooker for 4 to 5 whistles in high. When cooked, completely drain excess water. Keep it aside.
- Peel snake gourd, clean and cut into small pieces.
- Heat oil in a pan. Temper mustard seeds and urad dal.
- Then add chopped snake gourd, chopped small onions, little salt and sauté well. Close it with a lid and cook snake gourd in low flame for 5mins.
- When snake gourd is cooked, add cooked chanadal and sauté till both the ingredients gets mixed properly.
- Grind together all the ingredients mentioned under grinding. Don’t make fine paste of coconut. Avoid water.
- Add ground coconut mixture into cooked snake gourd and sauté well in low flame adding adequate salt.
- Keep it closed for 2mins.
Kerala Style Padavalanga Thoran is ready to serve with plain Kerala rice or else goes very well with chapatti.