Shahi Palval -The Kingly Pointed Gourd

Aha! Aha! Aha!

This is my favourite topic.

Kitchen is a place where you can innovate the most. Earlier I used to experiment a lot with Non-vegetarian dishes. With passage of time my preference has shifted towards Vegetarian culinary. Tell you what I now feel the scope of novelty is greater in the latter.

Cooking is an art. Your talent lies in converting even the most underrated vegetable into something extravagant and exotic

By the way, pointed gourd is my go-to veggie. You can make it into a tangy curry, a crispy fry, a soupy gravy or a gourmet delight. It all depends upon your imagination and palate.

The one that I recently tried, unexpectedly turned out to be an offering fit for royalty. Shahi actually means something regal. So, in order to make a savoury for the royal taste you have to use ingredients which are out of the ordinary.

While being a foodie I am also a person who likes to finish off work in the kitchen in least possible time. Elaborate recipes do not appeal to me. Nor do they turn out to be the best. The faster the cooking time, the more delicious the delicacy is. Believe me.

Now don’t form an opinion by the look of the utensil. In our culture, the blacker the kadhai or wok is, the tastier is the food. The burning example of this is the street foods.

So coming to the method….very simple. Take a fistful of onion curls (two medium sized) and stir them in two tablespoonful of oil till they become all mushy and blushy like a newly wed bride. Add a dash of ginger garlic paste (one teaspoon full). Stir till the paste merges well with onion. Add a generous number of cashews and almonds (6-7 each) along with salt as per taste and a pinch of sugar and fry. When all ingredients are well fried put in two tablespoonful heap of chickpea floor. As soon as the floor is mixed in the oil soaks up and the masala (spices) separates from the kadhai. Put off the stove and let it cool.

Now is the time to ready the palval or pointed gourds. I had taken half a kilo (500 gm) pointed gourds. Wash and peel. Now pointed gourds are never peeled off completely. The scales are knifed out in a manner that a green ribbon like strip of peel remains on the body of the gourd alternated by a skinned layer – alternate segments/lines of dark and light green. Like this.

After the gourds are peeled as shown above behead them on one side but retain the cap and scoop out the inside (seed and the flesh).

By now the masala is cooled. Blend it in the mixie till it is soft and creamy. Fill the paste inside each gourd and press in tightly. The chick pea floor will help the paste stay inside. Cap the gourds. I tied each gourd up with thread so that the cap stays put.

Shallow fry the gourds till they are light brown and half cooked. Put in the rest of the paste in the wok. You can use the same wok for the second half of the preparation. The paste will be tight. To liquify it a bit add a cup of milk and let the gourds simmer in it. At this point you can add half a tea spoonful of cumin seed powder and garam masala. Let the milk condense and the gourds get fully cooked. Check the salt and spice level once more. If need be you can up the spice quotient a bit. And then rest. Shahi Palval is ready to be served and can be had with boiled, de-starched rice or hot rotis. Don’t forget to de-thread the gourds before serving.

PS : In order to make garam masala at home take green and black cardamom, cinnamon sticks, a few cloves and bay leaves (except clove all else in equal proportion), dry roast , grind and store. It can be used as and when required.

The pic of how to skin palval has been borrowed from Rumki’s Golden Spoon.

Hope you enjoy salivating over Shahi Palval.

Traa…Laa…Laa