Parval Na Ravaiya – Stuffed Pointed Gourd in one teaspoon oil

Parval na Ravaiya in just one teaspoon of oil!! Does this sound interesting 😍. Traditionally any stuffed vegetable cooked the Indian way required lot of oil they sure taste delicious but they literally float in oil. And oil is one thing I try to use as sparingly as possible. This recipe tastes so good it does not allow you to miss oil!!

This post has been waiting to happen for almost 10 days!! Work got in way and I kept postponing the post. By the way, did you notice since last one month  I have been quite regular in posting  on the blog😳 Well that is because I had my in-laws here. And one thing I made sure before their arrival was to have a list of  blog worthy recipes prepared. This included lots of summer worthy food that is traditionally made in Gujarat. Most made it to the post while a few did not turn out as expected, will be working on them, make some more alterations and will be posting later. One month is over and my in-laws have returned back home. In the hush-hush of their departure this post got pushed away. Let us get back to the recipe of today…..

In Gujarati any vegetable that is stuffed and cooked is called Ravaiya. So we would have Ringan na Ravaiya, Karela na Ravaiya, Bhinda na Ravaiya, Marcha na Raviya, Goonda na Ravaiya and so much more. In short the Bharwa vegetables are called Ravaiya in Gujarati. Making ravaiya is an elaborate affair and hence some communities also call it ‘motu-shaak’  when they have any ravaiya on the menu. The ravaiya  are cooked more often during summers to make the meal more appetizing and to complement the aamras on the menu. Dal is  are usually avoided in summers. Also most gourds that we so love to stuff make their annual appearance during summers !! Although I have had no issues with the seeds in these gourds as love the crunch they lend to the dish,  I know many who do not relish these gourds seeds  specialty the bitter and pointed gourds, so removing the seeds and core and stuff it with prepared masala of choice works well. The stuffing masala can range from chickpea flour and dried spices to coriander and coconut to peanuts and chickpea flour to onions and dried spices

The Parval na Ravaiya  are  made using an interesting combination of  ingredients, the stuffed parwal are steamed and then tempered in one teaspoon of oil. If you want you can absolutely avoid the tempering and enjoy the steamed shaak. These are so good that I never eat roti with this shaak, also the stuffing masala is quite versatile and can be used to stuff potatoes and small aubergines.

The pictures on the slider below show the ingredients and the manner in which I steam the stuffed parval.