· It is used as ingredients of soup, stew, curry, sweet, or eaten fried and as dorma with roe or meat stufings.
· Parwal can be is cooked in variety of ways such as a boiled for soups and stews, curried or fried.
· Parwal soup is traditionally prepared for sick people in Nepal
· In the cuisines of South Asia and the West Indies, it is often prepared with potatoes and served with yogurt on the side or used in subzis.
· In Indonesia, pointed gourd is prepared in various dishes, such as stir fry, cooked in coconut milk, or steamed.
How to store pointed gourd, padwal, parwal
To store pointed gourd, wash and dry them gently and place them in bags. They should last a week, when stored in refrigerator at 50° F.
Health benefits of pointed gourd, padwal, parwal
· Pointed gourd contains vitamin A, B1, B2, and C. It also contains minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and potassium.
· From the ayurvedic perspective, pointed gourd is excellent for balancing Kapha. It helps purify blood tissue, enhances digestion, and stimulates the liver.
Chopped pointed gourd
To prepare pointed gourd for cooking, wash thoroughly, then cut in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a sharp spoon or corer and discard.Put the washed and peeled gourd on a chopping board and chop them in small 1-2 inch sized pieces with a sharp knife.The gourd can be chopped into big chunks or small pieces as per the recipe.
Pointed gourd juliennes
With a sharp knife the gourd is sliced on four sides to create a thick rectangular stick, and then cut lengthwise into approximately 3 mm (1/8 inch) slices. Stacking these slices and again cutting lengthwise into strips creates thin uniform square sticks called juliennes. It is applied to deep frying or in stir fry techniques.