Sri Lankan snake gourd stir fry(pathola mallung)

Next time you pass by a farmers market or a vegetable stall pick up a snake gourd to make this easy vegan, vegetarian stir-fry.  

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Probably named for its unusual, long shape, snake gourd is a vegetable with quite a few health benefits. It’s also an easy vegetable to cook once you clean and prepare it for cooking.

You can cook them as a coconut milk based white curry or make it as a stir-fry or what we call a mallung/sambol.

Both these methods give you a healthy vegan, vegetarian side dish to go with a Sri Lankan meal

Health benefits of including snake gourd to your diet.

Try cooking snake gourd for the family at least once a week for its health benefits.

It’s a great source of potassium and Vitamin A.

Besides being a heart-friendly vegetable, snake gourd is also good for anyone ailing from acidity.

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How to choose new/fresh snake gourd.

Choose a snake gourd that is firm to the touch and is light green, most importantly avoid any gourd that looks like they have wrinkles on them. 

Chopping board/ knife and a medium-sized frying pan to make the stir-fry.

Method

How to clean snake gourd.

Wash the snake gourd, place it on a cutting board and scrape off the white snowy layer.

Once this is removed, you will be left with a slippery, green skin if you’ve done it correctly.

Scraping off and exposing the green layer is not a difficult task so don’t put a lot of pressure while you scrape the layer, just run a sharp knife back and forth over the gourd to scrape it off.

Once you’ve cleaned the vegetable, slice the gourd open in two, using a spoon, scrape off the center which will be spongy with seeds.

Wash the snake gourd and slice it very fine, as thin as you can possibly do it, the individually sliced snake gourd will now look like crescents.

Place the snake gourd slices in a bowl sprinkle salt, mix and set aside for 3-5 minutes.

Cooking the snake gourd.

Place pan over medium heat and pour in the oil.

Add curry leaves, onions, garlic and sauté until the onions turn translucent.

While the onions sauté, gently squeeze out the snake gourd slices and set aside.

Once the onions turn golden, add chopped green chillies, turmeric, chilli flecks and cook further 3 minutes.

Add the snake gourd,  combine and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, season with salt.

Once the snake gourd slices turn soft, add the scraped coconut, combine and cook for further 5-7 minutes. season with salt if necessary and serve warm.

Other Vegetarian/vegan stir-fries you can try.

Sri Lankan capsicum and onion stir-fry(malu miris, banana peppers).

Oyster mushroom and bean stir-fry.

Cabbage and coconut sambal.

Yield: 4

Sri Lankan snake gourd fry(pathola mallung).

Print

Sri Lankan snake gourd stir fry(pathola mallung) Next time you pass by a farmers market or a vegetable stall pick up a snake gourd to make this easy vegan, vegetarian stir-fry.  

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon of oil
• 500g Snake gourd(this should roughly be half of a long gourd)
• 1 medium-sized onion  sliced fine
• A sprig of curry leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 green chilli chopped fine
• 1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon of red chilli flecks
• 1/2 cup of scraped Coconut or desiccated coconut(you can reduce it to 1/4 cup if you are not keen on having coconut to the stir-fry)

Instructions

1. How to clean snake gourd.
2. Wash the snake gourd, place it on a cutting board and scrape off the white snowy layer.
3. Once this is removed, you will be left with a slippery, green skin if you've done it correctly.
4. Scraping off and exposing the green layer is not a difficult task so don't put a lot of pressure while you scrape the layer, just run a sharp knife back and forth over the gourd to scrape it off.
5. Once you've cleaned the vegetable, slice the gourd open in two, using a spoon, scrape off the center which will be spongy with seeds.
6. Wash the snake gourd and slice it very fine, as thin as you can possibly do it, the individually sliced snake gourd will now look like crescents.
7. Place the snake gourd slices in a bowl sprinkle salt, mix and set aside for 3-5 minutes.

Cooking the snake gourd.

1. Place pan over medium heat and pour in the oil.
2. Add curry leaves, onions, garlic and sauté until the onions turn translucent.
3. While the onions sauté, gently squeeze out the snake gourd slices and set aside.
4. Once the onions turn golden, add chopped green chillies, turmeric, chilli flecks and cook further 3 minutes.
5. Add the snake gourd, combine and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, season with salt.

Once the snake gourd slices turn soft, add the scraped coconut, combine and cook for further 5-7 minutes. season with salt if necessary and serve warm.