A typical dish from Calcutta and a dry vegetable dish with a Gujarati touch. Parval is very popular among the Bengali Cuisine and a healthy vegetable, especially in the form of soup for stomach related ailments. The crispy nature of this vegetable even after it has been cooked along with potatoes, gives the special taste and crunch. Parwal is a popular vegetable in India, especially in Eastern and Northern India.

The vegetable looks like tiny cucumbers, with tapering ends and it has faint, lighter green lines along it’s length. The skin is much harder than cucumber, and is fat and stout like the thumb. Serve it with phulka's and kadhi and you will never turn your head back when you see the parval vegetable again.

Serves: 4 persons
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups parval sliced in chunks
• 2 cups of peeled potatoes sliced in chucks
• ¼ cup coarsely pounded roasted peanuts
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon dry mango powder/amchur powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala powder
• 2 tablespoons gram flour/besan/chick pea flour
• ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil /sunflower oil
• Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan; add the potatoes, parval, salt and all the other spices, except gram flour, peanuts and chopped coriander.

Sauté all the ingredients and simmer the vegetables adding ¼ cup of water. Bring the heat to medium, cover the pan, stirring occasionally until cooked.

Add the gram flour and peanuts and simmer for another 5-8 minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with phulka’s and Kadhi.