Podalanga Milagu kootu (Snake Gourd Pepper Kootu)

I love the "Podalanga Milagu Kootu" that my mom makes. It's the only dish I like with "Podalanga" (Snake gourd) in it. It goes well as a side dish for "Milagu Kozhambu" rice or for "Chapathis".

Ingredients

Moong Dhall (Payatham paruppu) - 1/2 cup
Toor Dhall (Thuvaram paruppu)- 1/4 cup
Snake Gourd (Podalangai)- 1.5 cups of fresh medium cut gourd, if you don't get fresh, use half packet of the frozen gourd

Mustard (kadugu)- 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves (karuveppilai)- 4 to 5 leaves
Asofoetida powder(perungaya podi)- 1/4 teaspoon
Oil (ennai)- 2 teaspoons
Urad dhall (ulutham paruppu)- 2-3 teaspoons
Red chili (chaeppu milagai) - 3-4
Black peppercorn (muzhu milagu) - 3/4 teaspoon
Shredded Coconut (thuruvina thengai) - 3 tablespoons
Salt (uppu) - 3/4 teaspoon ( add to taste)

Boil snake gourd in 2 cups of water. Add little salt and turmeric powder and cook till it becomes tender. Drain 50% of the water and keep aside.

Pressure cook Moong Dhall/Toor Dhall in 2 cups of water and a sprinkle of turmeric.

Heat a teaspoon of oil, and fry urad dhall, red chillies and black peppercorn. When Urad dhall turns golden brown, turn the heat down to low and add coconut and saute it for 1-2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool down. Grind these ingredients with little water to form a paste.

Take a deep dish vessel and heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add asofoetida, mustard and let it pop.
Add the snake gourd saute it for 1 minute. Add the cooked dhall , and the water remaining from cooking snake gourd and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and the ground paste (and water if it's too thick) and cook for 7-10 more minutes. . Garnish with curry leaves and serve with rice or chapathis.

Serving size: 4