Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi

Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi

Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi

Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi adds so much more flavor to a simple humble meal. India is known for its vegetarian meals and not just any meal, these are so varied and full of nutrition.

People and especially doctors ask me how do I get my complete nutrition by eating “just” a vegetarian diet. The big question is “protein, how do I get my protein?” For many, my vegetarian diet is a big question of wholesome and healthy living in America.

Earlier, I used to get defensive and would come up with all kind of explanations to showcase my vegetarian diet in the best light. Now? I listen. I smile and say – I am happy eating how I eat. So many people are turning vegetarian or vegan for that matter.

Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi

I think this topic should not be debated upon. Each to its own! We do so many things just to fit in the society or to please others. Food should be connected to heart. It should make you feel happy. A bite of your food should make you feel “belong”. When you chew on it, every bite should evoke emotions. Your food should define who you are. If you want to put green chillies in your chai and drink it, then go ahead. Let people think whatever. Be yourself around food.

Having said that, I do not mean to eat unhealthy or to ignore your health at all.

Do you think I was ranting above? I was not. I was just getting carried away. 😀

Let us get back to Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi.  Parwal is called Pointed Gourd and belongs to the family of cucumber and squash. It grows on vine. The fruit is green with white or no stripes on it. It can be small and round to longer and thick, with size varying from 2 inches to 6 inches. This fruit is rich in Vitamin A & C along with a good source of trace minerals. It is popular by many names in India – Potol , Kaadu, Kommu Potla are few to name.

Parwal / Pointed Gourd

When Parwal reaches the market, it becomes over ripe sometimes and turn yellow. It has seeds inside, in the middle. A ready to cook parwal is young and tender. The flesh inside is soft with seeds which are tender and ready to be used in cooking. A ripe parwal has seeds which are hard and you should remove these before cooking. When you are cutting the parwal and come across a ripe parwal with yellow inside and hard seeds, simply take a spoon and scrape the portion out. It is good to use. You can find all that I have described in the picture above – the over ripe, the fresh and tender, the scraped and the one with hard seeds.

You can cut the parwal in desired size and shape. Many a times, we stuff it with spices or other ingredients and cook it like Bharwaan Baingan or Bharwaan Karela . Either way, it is delicious.

For this vegetable preparation, I washed them and cooked these with potatoes. Both of the vegetables were sliced thin like french fries. Why? Because it makes the preparation more crunchy. That is my simple answer. 🙂

Parwal & Aloo sliced

The best part about this recipe is that it does not need any fancy ingredients or spices, other than the mundane ones as stored in your spice box. I love the recipes, that are easy and have fewer ingredients that are easily availbale. I bet we all do.

I will repeat my cliche’ statement that I always mention –

Life is already complicated, therefore our recipes need not be !!

Some other dry vegetable preparations from my blog are – Bharwaan Bhindi , Aami Mirchi ki Sabzi , Kathal ki sabzi , Mooli ke patte ki sabzi and many more.

This is how I made it!

Isn’t the dish simple and easy? I am sure you loved it! My kids got introduced to this combination for the first time and were not sure if they would like it. I served them as this is a house rule – everybody eats what is cooked. And that actually liked it :).

Parwal Aloo ki Sabzi

If you find the parwal in the market next time, get some and cook this for your family. I served it with Dal Lehsuni , chapati / roti and some salad.

As I say – Eat Happy! Stay Happy!

Sonal