Snake gourd salad

I discovered these small snake gourds on one of my visits to the local market. These were shorter than the ones I usually find and more tender. I remembered my mum talking about this Sri Lankan version of a salad using snake gourd and coconut milk.
So attempted to make one after checking a few Sri Lankan recipe books but didn't actually find a snake gourd salad. So hopefully I made it the way its made, the ones I found in  youtube was either a curry or had freshly grated coconut but no coconut milk

To make the salad, I didn't peel the snake gourd because it looked small and if I tried peeling it I would probably loose most of the flesh. So I just cut it in half and scooped out the pulp and seeds inside.

scoop the flesh out

Then  sliced into thin slices.

thinly sliced snake gourd

Then in a bowl, I mixed onion slices with salt and lime juice till the onions were soft then added a chilli and some ground dried tuna,  and then mixed in the snake gourd.

 Finally, I added about 1/4 cup of coconut milk.  This is best made a few minutes ahead of serving or even longer so the flavours develop.

Yield: 4

Snake gourd salad

ingredients:

• 2 small snake gourds or 1 long slender one
• 1 small onion or a shallot, finely sliced
• 1 chilli, finely sliced
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp dried tuna coarse ground or grind some dried tuna flakes in a grinder (optional)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk ( see note)
• salt
• tiny pinch of ground black pepper

instructions:

How to cook Snake gourd salad

1. Cut the snake gourd in half,  and remove the pulp inside with a blunt knife or the handle end of a spoon. Cut in half length wise and slice thinly. You should get about 1 cup of snake gourd.
2. In a small mixing bowl, add the thinly sliced onions and add the juice of 1/2 lime and a pinch of salt. Using your fingers scrunch the onions till they go soft. 
3. Add the dried tuna, if using, the chillies and snake gourd and mix well. Taste add more lime and salt if needed.
4. Finally, add the coconut milk and give another mix,  spoon into a serving bowl and serve with rice and curries.

NOTES:

To make the coconut milk, you can use the fresh milk extract from the coconut or use the dried coconut powder. Mix 1 heaped teaspoon of good quality coconut milk powder in 1/4 cup of water and use. Or use packed coconut milk ( not cream).

Created using The Recipes Generator