Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

Padavalanga Parippu Curry (Snake Gourd Curry)

Padavalanga Parippu Curry (Snake Gourd Curry) is a traditional Indian recipe (from South India) for a classic vegetarian curry of snake gourd in a yellow split pigeon pea curry base with spices. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Snake Gourd Curry (Padavalanga Parippu Curry).

prep time

10 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Additional Time:

(+20 minutes soaking)

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : CurryChilli RecipesVegetarian RecipesSpice RecipesBean RecipesIndian Recipes

This is a classic South Indian recipe for a curry of snake gourd in an aromatic curry base thickened with toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas). The snake gourd is the fruit of Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina raised for its strikingly long fruit. It is superficially similar to cucumber and is often cooked for its cooling effect. Indeed, Ancient Romans made little distinction between snake gourds and cucumber and often the fruit referred to as ‘cucumber’ in translations of Latin texts often refers to the snake gourd. It is a common ingredient in South Indian recipes where it’s believed to have a cooling effect on the body. It’s the immature fruit that’s consumed, as mature fruit becomes too bitter for consumption.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp Toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
300g (about 2 cups) padavalanga /snake gourd, peeled cubed
1 Tomato, diced
1 Onion, diced
2 Green chillies, sliced
½ tsp ground Turmeric
1 tsp Chilli powder
Salt, to taste
4 shallots
2 tsp Extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2 sprigs Curry leaves
2 Dried Red chillies, both broken into two

Method:

Wash the toor dal, place in a bowl, cover with water and soak for 20 minutes. After this time, drain the toor dal, place in a small pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, or until just tender and still whole. Drain and set aside.


Place the snake gourd in a pan with the turmeric, chilli powder, green chillies, onion and tomato. Season to taste with salt, just cover with water then bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 25 minutes, until the snake gourd is tender.

Add the cooked dal and boil everything together for 5 minutes, or until the dal has broken down and thickened the sauce.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter for a few minutes then add the dried red chillies and curry leaves. Fry until the curry leaves blacken then take off the heat and immediately pour on top of the curry as a tempering.

Serve hot with rice.