Parwal / Parval is known as Pointed gourd belonging to cucumber family, mostly cultivated in Northern part of India. Little oval veggie, slightly bigger than Tindora and taste similar to it. Good when deep fried, pan fried or even works great with gravy. Here is a simple pan fried parwal…. called Kambupudalai in Tamil, Potals in Telugu, Thondekayi in Kannada, Patolam in Malayalam.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 20 | Parwal |
| 1 cup | Onion (chopped) |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Ginger & garlic paste |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Red chili powder |
| 2 teaspoons | Coriander /dhania powder |
| 1/4 teaspoon | Turmeric powder |
| 1/4 teaspoon | Mustard |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Cumin seeds |
| 6 leaves | Curry leaves |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Salt (or to taste) |
| 3 teaspoons | Oil |
| 1 pinch | Asafoetida |
Lets see how to make this Parwal fry…
- Rinse the parwal in cold water and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Cut them into thin crescent shape slices and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a skillet or pan, splutter mustard, cumin seeds and curry leaves.
- Sprinkle asafoetida, add chopped onions and fry till slightly brown, followed by ginger garlic paste.
- Saute until the raw smell goes away and then add the Parwal pieces, cover and cook over low flame for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid browning.
- Now add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and salt. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes over medium flame, by this time, the veggies might curl up slightly turning light brown.
- Switch off and serve as a side for rice or roti.
Notes
- Serves 3
- These are similar to tindora or ivy gourd but little more bitter. You can substitute these in the place of ivy gourd.
- You may add a little garam masala powder to spike up the recipe.
Some similar recipes to try…
1. Tindora rice
2. Kovakkai Fry
3. Tindora fry
17 Comments
No, it’s not kovaikai, it’s called kambupudalai. Not much available in South India.
https://easyayurveda.com/2013/02/08/pointed-gourd-health-benefits-usage-ayurveda-details/
Tamil name is Kambupudalai.
Great recipe
This is not kovaikai and this vegetable tastes yummy . And this is not available in TamilNadu.
Its outer cover looks like Koavakkai. This is much bigger and bulkier than Kovaikkai and has bigger and harder seeds inside. In Karnataka I have seen this and mostly the shop keepers put it in water and keep it so that its water content is not lost
Yes, it is very bulky compared to kovakkai but have similar taste!
Tamil name of pointed gourd is KOVAiKKAI
Oother name is parwal. Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna likes this very much.
is there anyway I can follow your blog? didn’t find the follow button!
hi Mullai
this is a cool and simple recipe. finished veg looks tasty. will try it next time. yesterday, however, i tried another recipe before reading this blog.
onion fine julian
diced capsicum
zeera and asafoetida for tadka.
fry onions until brown. add capsicum and potil (cut like you showed in the recipe). add salt and turmeric and cook with lid on stirring occasionally. once cooked, add groundnut powder (i ground raw seeds coarsely) and garlic chilly powder (dry red chillies ground with garlic and a few other spices. sorry, i don’t know the recipe for this powder. my mother got it for me). cook on high for a minute and switch off. it tasted good too.
The name of this vegetable in Tamil is “KOVAKKAI”
Thanks for the Simple yet tasty recipe… It tasted really Good .. I am a All non Veg Cook and I cooked this for my all Veg Wife and she loved it
Thanks again
Hai…….. I tried this parwal fry yesterday. It tastes good, and my husband was greatly impressed with it.thankzzzz
yammmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……………….i done it 2day…………….love it……………………thanx 4 the good rcp
what is the name of vegetable in tamil.
thanks
This is grown only in Northern India and not very popular among the Southern part. Do get in some parts of Andhra and still called as Patol / Pattol / Patola which is Bengali. So as far as I know there is no Tamil name for it. Try a small batch, you will like it.
Hi Mullai..
Everytime I look at this veggie,I used to wonder what people normally prepare with this,I haven’t tried them yet.To me,they look similar to kovakai,bigger in shape though!!!!!.I never wished to give it a try.Ur presentaion looks damnnnnnnnn good and attractive..Planning to give it a try.Would surely be buying this in a day or two..Bit curious to know how it would taste..Would get back with the results soon..Have a great day…
Cheers
Radha Arvindh
Trust me!! you would luv this veggie, tastes like kovakkai, not juicy though… the skin of it turns dry and chewy, but even then its worth a try. Get a big batch, as 20 of these can just feed 2 to 3 people.