Sunday, August 10, 2008

Parwal (Pointed Gourd) Sambar

Yet another gourd! I can't help it, I am a gourd-eater. I was introduced to the Pointed Gourd (Parwal/ Potol in Hindi/ Bengali) only after I got married, just like the Teasle Gourd. R prefers to have it with potato as a curry, or sautéed.



In an effort to make my little one eat all vegetables (and become a true member of the gourd-eating family), I try to make what she likes best - Sambar! Of course, I can't ever think of making bitter-gourd sambar. Since my 3 year old ate the parwal pieces in this sambar, I feel confident enough to post this.

To make the Parwal Sambar seen in the picture you will need:

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Parwal - 4-5 medium sized - sliced, deseeded, and quartered
Water - 3 cups
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized - quartered
Onion - 1 large - chopped
Green chilly - 1 - sliced
Ginger - 1/2 tsp - peeled and pounded
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp (OR lemon juice from 1 whole lemon)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 strand
Hing/ Asafeotida - a pinch/ 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - chopped (optional)
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

  • Pressure cook the toor dal along with chopped onions, tomatoes, parwal pieces, green chilly, and ginger
  • If using tamarind paste, add the tamarind paste at this stage, mix well, add salt to-taste and boil for a minute. Add the sambar powder and mix well
  • If using lemon juice, just add salt to taste along with the sambar powder and boil for a minute
  • Add water to adjust the thickness or consistency according to your preference and allow to simmer on low flame
  • Heat oil in a tadka pan, temper the mustard seeds, add hing, curry leaves, and turmeric and red chilly powder at the very end
  • Add this to the sambar, and stir well without breaking the parwal pieces
  • Garnish with coriander leaves

Another view

Serve with rice.

Note: I avoid the use of tamarind as much as possible. I add more tomatoes and use lemon juice as a substitute. I also do not use red chillies in the seasoning/ tadka process.

32 comments:

Indian Khana said...

We always make parwal, alu sabji....never tried parwal sambar..looks gud and yummy..

notyet100 said...

this one looks tome...will taste great with rice...nice one..

Cynthia said...

This is the first time I've heard of this one. It looks just like cucumber. Your curry looks so tasty.

Pragyan said...

Have developed a new taste for parwal lately. Have tagged you for a meme, details on my blog!

Nidhi said...

your Parwal smabar looks good but is news to me.
We do make Parwal aaloo subji.

Adam said...

I really like how this dish looks. It looks so homey and comforting. I would love it on a relaxing day.

I say the more gourds, the better. Gourds all around :)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Parwal in sambhar? Nice idea.
Sambhar is my daughter's favourite after tomato rasam.:)

Bharathy said...

Are parwals gherkins??ivy gourd??..looks very similar to those.. :)
Green veggies and dal combo is healthy and yummy!..nice homely dish :)

Rajani said...

i encountered potol in delhi... hehhee... since then Iam always on the lookout for unexpected meetings with the veggie, unexpected because somehow its not as prolific as say kundru/tendli?! my much prefered way of eating potol is the bengali way with panch phoron... but this looks interesting!!! i still have'nt introduced my girl (19months)to potol 'cos in dubai you get it far between! :(

lubnakarim06 said...

Looks gr8. something new to me. never heard of it.

Jayashree said...

I've seen parwal in the market, but have never tried it. It looks a lot like cucumber.

EC said...

Nice idea of using gourds in sambar...

RM said...

This is what my mummy used to make back in India !
Reminded me of her :)
Rgds,
Sam !

ST said...

Parwal sambar looks yumm yumm and good.....

Anonymous said...

Sambar looks so good. wanna have some with rice.

Deepthi Shankar said...

looks yummy .. we took make a similar kinda sambar using parwal ..

Anonymous said...

I've only had parwal once, only because it was the only vegetarian dish in a Bengali wedding meal. It was stuffed, and tasted delicious but I've never made it myself. Let's just say I'm not a gourd person. But you are inspiring me :)

Sum Raj said...

woo parwal in smabhar sounds intereting...my granny used to make parwal bhareli...i dont c them in US..

Usha said...

Nice twist using parwal in sambar,looks delicious too :)

Sagari said...

sambar looks so comforting shriya

Srikitchen said...

sambar is so good! event going in my blog! join it!

Bharti said...

And I'm one non gourd eater. But you are motivating me! The sambhar looks delicious.

Sukanya Yogesh said...

Looks so yummy.....Iam definiteky going to try this

Indian Khana said...

U got award and tagged :)

Unknown said...

your Parwal smabar looks good but is news to me.
Nice entry...

Indranee Batabyal said...

Sambar with parwal is quite unusual...but I guess it will taste good combined with rice or more so with rotis and nans. Nice recipe!

A_and_N said...

Looks nice! Never tried putting parwal in Saambaar! Great idea Shreya :)

Purva Desai said...

Parwal sambhar sounds really delicious.....I like parwar sabji...but will try ur version of sambhar for sure....

Swati said...

Parwal in sambhar is very innovative..but I love parwal and dont mind adding it to my sambhar too..bet it would taste delicious..

kitchen queen said...

Hi I am sure the parwal sambar will go very well with rice. It also looks delicious You can visit my blog view my recipes and give ur comments

Swati Sapna said...

hey! wish to ask u a favour... i wanted to use ur parwal pic for a post of mine... will acknowledge it properly and provide a link to this post too. Hope its ok with you. do let me know!
thanks.
Swati

Unknown said...


good step by step pictures..looks so yum and tasty so delicious. thankyou for shearing. thankyou for shearing this

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