Mahanandi

Pretty and Pleasing ~ Parval

Sliced Parval

Parval Cooked to Crisp with Curry Leaves and Garlic

Parval is a beautiful looking vegetable, popular throughout north-India and little seen elsewhere. They are used especially in curry and stews. It has a satisfying soul which makes a filling curry that lifts the spirit. They are little bit hard to find in the United States even at Indian grocery shops, but they are well worth the hunt!

Recipe:

15 to 20 fresh parvals
1 tablespoon peanut oil
10 fresh curry leaves
5 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
Pinch each- cumin and mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon red chilli flakes and salt, or to taste

Rinse parvals under water. Dry them with a kitchen or paper towel. Make a vertical cut in the middle. Then slice each half again into four thin pieces lengthwise.

In a wide skillet, heat peanut oil. Add and toast garlic and curry leaves to pale gold. Next goes the cumin and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add the parval pieces. Mix and cover the skillet. Cook on medium heat for about five to ten minutes. Covering the skillet creates steamy environment that helps to soften the parval. When they start to get tender, remove the lid. Sprinkle turmeric, red chilli flakes and salt. Toss gently and cook for another five minutes, until the parval turn to crisp like shown in the photo above.

Serve right away. Enjoy with rice and dal, or with chapati or dal.

The mere mention of chole, the famous Punjabi recipe with chickpeas, elicits feelings of comfort and good eats. Bring in the Punjabi tinda, the chole becomes extra special.

The food I prepared today inspired by two Punjabi specialties “chole with Punjabi tinda” turned out to be excellent. Along with Punjabi tinda, I also added tomatoes and potatoes to chickpea chole. Few teaspoons of kasuri methi livened up the chole with wonderful aroma.

A harmonious, energizing and filling meal!

Tomato, Punjabi Tinda, Cooked Chickpeas

Recipe:
(for two, for two meals)

1 tablespoon - ghee
1 onion- finely chopped
4 tomatoes - finely chopped
1 Punjabi tinda – Peeled and the white flesh cut to cubes
1 potato - peeled and cut to cubes
3 cups chickpeas (cooked to tender)
(Separate ½- cup chickpeas and puree to smooth. Added to thicken the chole)
1 tablespoon - chana masala powder (homemade or store-bought)
Chilli powder, salt, and lemon juice - to taste
1 tablespoon - kasuri methi

Heat ghee in a big pot.
Add onions and tomatoes. Saute to soft mush.
Add Punjabi tinda and potatoes. Saute to tender.
Stir in chickpeas, the chickpea paste, chana masala and chilli powders, and salt.
Add about one cup of water. Combine. Simmer, covered for about 15 to 20 min.
At the end, sprinkle the kasuri methi and lemon juice.
Mix and serve right away. Great with chapati/roti and rice.

Chole with Punjabi Tinda, Dahi Mirchi, Roti, and Persimmon with yogurt ~ Meal Today

Notes:
Punjabi tinda is a small variety squash native to North India and prized for its pleasant taste.
Features: green skin and white colored flesh, firm texture, mildly sweet taste, size about an apple.
Available at local Indian grocery shops during Oct-Nov(seasonal), and also frozen and in tins.
Kasuri Methi = Sun-dried fenugreek leaves

Pretty looking Punjabi Tinda is a type of winter squash, common to north India. This is a seasonal vegetable and available at Indian grocery shops - fresh, frozen and also preserved in brine, in ready to use tins. Punjabi Tinda is easy to recognize. Pleasant pale-green color and perfect round shape, they resemble green tomato or green apple in color, shape and size. The skin is tough though, needs peeling, or scrubbing. When cut open, you see firm flesh in snow-white color, and seeds will be in white or brown color depending on the maturity of the gourd. Punjabi Tinda can be steamed, stuffed, or stir-fried. It has sweet taste with a light papaya scent. Absorbs flavors well and tastes superb in strong-sauced curries and with dals.

Punjabi tinda was introduced to me by Deviji, the kind neighbor we had when we lived in Pittsburgh. She is about my mother’s age and came to Pittsburgh to visit her son. She stayed for about six months. We struck a friendship through our interest in cookery. She couldn’t get enough of my idly, dosas and I of her traditional Punjabi cooking. Together, we would prepare an elaborate meal combining both south and north Indian dishes, have a nice lunch and save the rest for dinner. She is a military wife, traveled all over India with her husband. She is like Annapoorna and Saraswathi when it comes to food and knowledge. I learned so much from her about ingredients and techniques that were new to me. There is nothing that compares to first hand learning that comes through the interaction with an experienced person. This rich experience started with just a “hallway hello”. And that was the best experience I ever gotten for a friendly hello.

The following recipe is from Deviji. Punjabi Tinda cooked with toor dal and seasoned with tomato, onion and tamarind. A very good dal!

Punjabi Tinda ~ Whole, Halved and Cut to Chunks

Recipe:

¾ cup toor dal
1 Punjabi tinda, peeled and cut to big chunks
Tomato and onion, one each and 6 green chillies, cut to chunks
Tamarind pulp - two teaspoons or to taste
Turmeric and Salt - to taste or quarter teaspoon each
Popu or tadka ingredients

Take toor dal and two cups of water in a pressure-cooker.
Cook to soft, and then mash the dal to smooth. Keep aside.

In a pot, heat oil and do the popu(toast cumin, mustard and curry leaves in oil).
Add Punjabi tinda, tomato, onion and chillies to toasted popu. Saute to tender.
Stir in tamarind, salt and turmeric.
Add the cooked toor dal and about one cup of water.
Simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes.
Serve or spoon into a small bowl and enjoy with rice or chapatis.

Your passionate response to the “FAHC-Subscribe to Smiles fund-drive” is clearly indicative that all of us are determined to make a positive difference in the world. By being calmly active and actively calm, the encouragement, confidence and support you showed is heartwarming. It is truly an honor to receive such a response. I believe that we are helping ourselves, for a better tomorrow, by helping our future generations.

My thanks to the fellow bloggers and friends, who believed in this effort and readily donated time and offered amazing prizes:

Vijay K Narayanan, Anjali, Bee&Jai, Manisha, Padmaja, Shilpa, Mythili, Siri, Richa, Madhuli and Maria.

Special thanks to author and chef Suvir Saran and to Shruthi Reddy for their compassion, generous contribution and prize offers. It is a blessing to have such kind-hearted friends. I am also grateful to all who have written about this event and spread the word.

I sincerely thank all individual donors on behalf of fundraising team for the contributions. You are the people who made the goal accomplished. Your encouragement gave the FAHC team a great positive push to keep working continuously towards this mission. Thank you again for your generosity, which will make it possible for many children to have a quality life. You can find more details about the FAHC campaign, and the benefiting children at feedahungrychild.org.

For raffle-draw, I had taken the help of my friend’s daughter, three year old Manasa, to randomly pick the winners. For each prize, we have written down all the names and placed the folded paper slips in a jar. A vigorous shake and a pick. One prize at a time, the raffle-draw turned out to be a pleasant affair, all thanks to little cutie pie Manasa.

From Manasa’s hands, here are the raffle results:

All the winners will be notified via Email. The winners have to provide and confirm their shipping addresses. The prize sponsors will then send the gifts directly to the winners. Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for the prizes to reach you. Thank you.

Questions, concerns? Please contact me at donatesmiles@gmail.com.