Pudalangai Kootu or Snake Gourd Stew Recipe

Recipe

In this article we will see the recipe for making snake gourd or padwal stew. This is called pudalangai kootu in Tamil It is mildly spiced, yet delicious and packed with nutrition.

Let us see how to make this Pudalangai kootu.

Download Pudalangai Kootu Recipe PDF

Ingredients:

Snake gourd/ Pudalangai / Padwal - 500 grams or half kilo.

Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp (or as needed)

Chana Dal/ Split Bengal gram - 2 tbsp

Pepper Corn/ Kali mirch - 2 tbsp

Red Chilli/ Lal mirch - 3

Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 Cup

Yellow Moong Dal/ Split Green Gram - 1 Cup

Turmeric Powder/ Haldi - 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Urad Dal/ Split black gram - 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida/ Hing powder for flavor

Curry leaves - 4-8

Salt - to taste

Method of Preparation:

• To make this kootu take 500 grams or half kilo snake gourd or pudalangai or padwal and chop it into pieces as shown below or You can chop it in any way you want.
  
  
  
  
  
• Take 2 tbsp of Coconut oil and add a little amount of oil from it to a heated pan. Then add 2 tbsp chana dal or split Bengal gram, 2 tbsp pepper corns or kali mirch And 3 red chilli/ lal mirch in the below order.
• First add the Chana dal as chana dal takes some time to cook. Roast it on a very low flame and when the chana dal has turned color, we will add the rest of the ingredients, that is black peppercorn and the red chillies.
• Continue to roast on a low flame, for about two minutes and now we will add fresh grated coconut. Roast until the coconut slightly changes color, it need not become very  brown.
• Now take the roasted ingredients into a mixer jar after they have cooled down, and blend it by adding a little water into a coarse paste and keep it aside.
• Take a cup of Yellow Moong Dal or split green gram and roast it on a very low flame which gives a nice aroma to it. It need not turn brown . As soon as it changes color switch off the flame.
• Wash this moong dal and add it to about five cups of hot water in a pan for cooking. Moong Dal does not take much time to cook. So it is fine to cook it outside and not in a pressure pan. When it is still boiling add turmeric powder and mix it well.
• When it is half cooked, add the chopped vegetable that is snake gourd or Padwal. Mix it well. At this stage see if more water is needed to be added for cooking and add accordingly. Keep a lid on the pan and let it cook for about 7 minutes. 
• Now the cooking is 90% done by this time, so add salt keep the lid again and leave it to cook for about 5 minutes. Now the vegetables and lentils should be already cooked, so add the masala that was ground and kept aside and mix it well. Now the Kootu is almost done like below.
  
  

  
  
  
• Now we have to prepare tempering for the Kootu. Heat coconut oil in a small pan, add one teaspoon mustard seeds when the oil is hot. When the mustard seeds crackle and one teaspoon Urad dal or split black gram and then add asafoetida or hing powder for flavor along with some curry leaves. 
• Once done transfer this tempering to the Kootu that was already made.

The delicious kootu is ready to be served and you can eat it without guilt as it is full of nutrition.