Podalya Upkari

This was my Dad( Anna)'s favourite upkari, he loved it. And every single time, Amma burnt it to a brown/black crisp mush. He wanted it to be green, al-dante , and steamingly fresh. This blog is specially for you Anna, I made it, just the way you liked it. the vegetable still has the green color, and some freshly grated coconut.It is a very simple stir fry dish called Upkari in Konkani language.

Recipe:

2 fresh poddale ( snake gourd)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2-3 red chillies broken into 2-3 pieces

Oil : 1 tbsp

freshly grated coconut ( 1 tbsp)

Jaggery or brown sugar : 1 tsp

Method: In a wok or fry pan, heat up the oil, and add mustard seeds and red chillies, after the seeds stop splattering, add thinly sliced snake gourd, with salt, jaggery . Stir fry and cook on low heat till the vegetables are done, , add a little water if necessary to soften the vegetable, and cook it dry, garnish with freshly grated coconut, and serve with white boiled rice and dal.

Variation: cook with ghee instead of oil , it adds a little richness to the taste. It is very tasty!!!