Today I will write another vegan recipe for Chichinga aka Snake Gourd. This tropical vegetable taste something in between cucumber and bottle gourd, but it has crunchier texture than cucumber. I hardly find it in Denmark. Luckily last week, I have got a bunch and decided to make another vegan recipe of this delicious veggie.

Somehow I forgot to take pictures with all the ingredients (this happends when I cook several dishes at a time). So here’s the picture of all ingredients after preparation – snake gourd (chichinga), muug daal (washed and soaked in warm water), cumin seed, cumin powder, turmeric powder and 2 small potatoes (cubed). You can cook Zucchini using the same ingredients. However, before we start cooking, we need to prepare this ‘snake’ gourd or chichinga properly.

As I have already sheared the skin of the chichinga, I will share an old photo here of how I did it. Chichinga has a very thin waxy layer outside, so we have to shear the outer skin very lightly with the tip of the knife. As you can see in the picture, the outer skin gives the typical stripped look. The more you shear, the more you see the inner bright green middle layer. However, some people prefer to keep the layer. I myself eaten chichinga with outer skin on lots of time. So you can skip this step totally.

After shearing, I cut them in half longitudinally. First I cut them in few small pieces and then cut in half. You can cut them in any shape you like, but remember to keep them bit bigger, as we are not going to stir fry them. You will see a soft foam like core inside.Some prefer to keep this core, as it does not taste bad at all. I have taken out the hard seeds with a help of a spoon.

Look how I have sliced chichinga, half moon shape and 2cm thick.

Now its time to start cooking. In a pan, I took Bangladeshi Mustard Oil and warm under medium heat. You can use any vegetable oil instead. When the oil is warm, I added cubed potatoes, about 1cm thick, salt and turmeric powder. We will fry them first until they changes color.

When potatoes are slightly roasted and spreading aroma, I took them out of the oil and kept separately. We will use them later.

In the same pan, I added cumin seeds and dry red chili. After few seconds, when they starts to sizzle and bubble, I added soaked and washed muug daal. I cooked the muug daal for a minute or two.

Then I added cumin powder, ginger paste and green chili and cooked until they lost their raw spicy smell.

Then I have added fried potatoes to the pan. As potatoes and muug daal are not cooked yet, I will add about 100m of water and let them simmer in low heat until potatoes and muug daal are soft and cooked. This will take about 5 to 6 minutes, better if you cover them with a lid.

Potatoes and muug daal are nicely cooked, so now I will add chopped chichinga. I stirred them lightly so they are blended well with rest of the ingredients in the pot.

Now, chichinga released lots of water, so I am not adding extra water. I will just cover the pot with a lid and let them simmer in low heat for about 10 to 12 minutes.

After a good simmering, you will see that chichinga started to change colors, from bright green to pale green and will get softer. It is releasing oils too. You can check with a spoon if they are cooked properly. If not, cover it for few more minutes in low heat.

So here is another fulfilling vegan recipe of chichinga aka snake gourd. I have eaten this with rice of course but as usual, you can eat with your preferred carbs.

Recipe: 4 Servings Prep time: 8 minutes, Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients: Vegetables 2 Snake Gourd or Chichinga 2 Small Potatoes 100g Muug Daal Spices and Condiments 1 Dry red Chili 2 Green Chili 1 teaspoon Cumin seed 1 teaspoon Ginger Paste 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder 20ml Vegetable oil 1 tablepoon Salt

Instruction: 1. Clean and shear the outer layer of chichinga. Cut in half moon shape, 2cm thick. 2. Cut potatoes in 1cm thick pieces. 3. Wash Muug Daal and soak it in warm water. 4. Warm oil in a pot and add potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Shallow fry them until they are slightly roasted. Set them aside. 5. In the same pan, add cumin seed and dry chili. When they start bubbling, add sliced soaked and drained muug daal. Fry for few minutes and then add ginger paste, cumin powder. Let them cook until raw smell of ginger is gone. 6. Add roasted potatoes and 100ml of water. Simmer in low heat for few minutes covering them. Let them cook until potatoes are soft. 7. Add sliced chichinga. Stir fry for a minute in medium heat. Then cover the pan with lid and simmer for 10 minutes in low heat. Simmer until chichinga changes color and gets cooked. Serve with rice or ruti!