Parval/Patal Dopyaza

arval or Patal, as it is sometimes also referred to as, is a common green vegetable that most if not all folks from India are familiar with. I looked around on the web and there seems to be a lot of confusion on its english name so I would rather not mention any here. It is especially common in northern and eastern part of the country and definitely well loved in the region in India where I come from. Growing up parval used to be abundant during the summers. So much so that it almost became a staple for those couple of months. It would either be aloo-parval with rice for lunch or parval bhunjiya with roti for dinner or even sauteed stuffed parval as a side, it would show up in some shape or form with every meal. You got tired of eating it eventually but you still liked it.
Coming to the US, I was pretty disappointed that folks here did not even know what parval was let alone eat it or even sell it. I would occasionally find the frozen kind in the freezer, tried a few times, but was even more disappointed. For someone trying parval for the first time, I would strongly advise not trying the frozen ones, not even close. We had to go without the fresh ones for a few years until we started seeing it in little containers in Indian grocery stores, tucked away in a corner as if it were an orphan vegetable that no one desired. The first time I laid my eyes on the little box in the corner seemed like a distant dream. I picked one up and held it close to my eyes turning it in different directions until my senses told me I was in fact looking at a fresh parval (aah the things you take for granted). The excitement however was short lived as almost immediately my sight fell on the little handwritten price tag that read $6.99/lb. "You gotta be kidding me", I thought and with a heavy heart put the one I had in my hand back in the basket and passed it by. Yes, I did turn around.
Since then I do buy a couple of pounds every now and then and handle it like gold. Hubs and I both enjoy it with rice or roti while chatting through our meal on everything I just wrote above.

Ingredients:

Parval .............................. 12-15 medium

Onion ................................ 1 large sliced thin
Tomato .............................. 1 small chopped

Ginger-garlic paste ................ 1 tsp 
Turmeric ........................... 1/2 tsp
Salt ................................. to taste

Red chilli powder ................. 1 tsp

Corinader powder ................. 1 tsp

Garam masala ...................... 2 tsp

Mustard oil .......................... 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp for pan frying

Asafoetida .......................... a pinch

Cumin seeds ....................... 1/2 tsp

Bayleaf ............................. 1

Cilantro ............................ for garnish

Method:

1. Wash the parval and lightly scrape the skin. Cut it in haf lengthwise. Heat 2 tbsp oil on medium heat for pan frying and fry them till golden and cooked. Drain on a paper towel.
2. In the same pan heat the remaining oil and add asafoetida amd cumin seeds, let it splutter. add the bayleaf, let cook for 30 sec.Add in the onion, salt and turmeric and cook for 3-4 minutes till it gets soft and pink. Add in the tomato, ginger- garlic paste follwed by red chilli powder and cook covered, stirring in between till oil starts to seperate from the mixture.
3. Add in the coriander powder and let it cook for other 3-4 minutes. Add in the fried parvals and cook till it mixes well with the masala. Add garam masala and cilantro. Cook for a minute or two, take off the heat. Serve hot with some rice and dal or parathas. ENJOY!

Notes:
1. Use fresh parval for best results. You can tell the fresh ones by the firmness of their shell and dark green color.

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