Snow Peas Poriyal is a quick and wholesome South Indian-style vegetable stir-fry made with tender snow peas, fresh coconut, and simple tempering. This no-onion, no-garlic poriyal comes together in under 30 minutes and makes a perfect side dish for everyday South Indian meals.
Living outside India doesn’t mean missing out on traditional South Indian flavors. With a good understanding of basic cooking techniques, such as tempering and minimal spice use, you can easily recreate homestyle dishes with locally available vegetables. This snow peas poriyal is a great example—simple ingredients, classic South Indian seasoning, and comforting flavors reminiscent of home.
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South Indian cooking is incredibly adaptable. Once you understand the base techniques—tempering, minimal spices, and proper cooking time—you can recreate familiar flavors using vegetables available anywhere in the world.
What Is Poriyal?
Poriyal is a dry vegetable stir-fry commonly prepared in South Indian households, especially in Tamil cuisine. It is known for its simplicity, mild flavors, and use of fresh coconut.
A basic poriyal follows these steps:
- Vegetables are either lightly steamed first or cooked directly after tempering using the open-pot method.
- A simple tempering is prepared with mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, dried red chilies, curry leaves, and a pinch of asafoetida. Poriyal is usually mildly spiced, without heavy spice powders. Some variations may include green chilies or ginger.
- The cooked vegetables are seasoned with salt, cooked until the moisture evaporates, and finished with grated coconut.
This is the foundation of most poriyal recipes. You can customize it by adding onions, soaked lentils, or a coconut–cumin paste. For this recipe, I’ve kept it basic, beginner-friendly, and completely no-onion, no-garlic, making it ideal for festivals, fasting days, or simple home meals.
Traditionally poriyal is made with vegetables like beans, cabbage, or carrots, snow peas works really well. It’s widely available in US grocery stores and cook quickly. From prep to plate, this dish takes less than 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy weekdays.
Ingredients Required
Snow Peas – Snow peas are the star ingredient in this poriyal. They are flat, edible-pod peas with a mild, slightly sweet flavor and a crisp texture. The entire pod is eaten before the peas mature, making them ideal for quick stir-fries.
For Tempering – You will need oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, dried red chilies for heat, asafoetida (hing), and curry leaves for classic South Indian flavor.
Coconut – No poriyal is complete without coconut. I’ve used frozen grated coconut, thawed to room temperature, but fresh coconut works just as well.
You’ll also need salt to taste. Please refer to the recipe card below for exact measurements.
How to Serve Poriyal
This snow peas poriyal pairs beautifully with steamed rice and classic South Indian accompaniments like rasam, sambar, kuzhambu, or thogayal. It fits perfectly into a traditional Tamil-style lunch menu.
You can also enjoy it on its own as a light stir-fry or serve it alongside any grain of your choice.
Dietary Notes & Storage
- This snow peas poriyal is naturally vegan and nut-free.
- For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free asafoetida or skip it entirely.
- It stays fresh for up to 2 days when refrigerated. Freezing is not recommended for poriyal, as the texture may change.
How to Make Snow Peas Poriyal
- Trim the edges of the snow peas and chop them into small pieces. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. Let the mustard seeds splutter.
- Add dried red chilies, asafoetida, and curry leaves.
- Add the chopped snow peas and salt. Mix well. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes.
- Open the lid and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the moisture evaporates and the snow peas are just tender but still vibrant.
- Add grated coconut, mix well, switch off the heat, and serve warm.
Recipe Notes
- You can chop the snow peas as you like—keep them whole, halve them, or finely chop them.
- Adjust salt and spice levels to suit your taste.
- If not making a no-onion, no-garlic version, you can sauté ¼ cup chopped onion after tempering before adding the snow peas.
More Poriyal Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Snow Peas Poriyal (No Onion No Garlic – South Indian Style)
Ingredients
Vegetable
- 255 grams snow peas trimmed and chopped
For Tempering
- 1½ teaspoons oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon urad dal
- ½ teaspoon chana dal
- 3 dried red chilies
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida a pinch
- 5 to 6 curry leaves
Other
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ½ cup grated coconut fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Trim the edges of the snow peas and chop them into small pieces. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. Let the mustard seeds splutter.
- Add dried red chilies, asafoetida, and curry leaves.
- Add the chopped snow peas and salt. Mix well. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes.
- Open the lid and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the moisture evaporates and the snow peas are just tender but still vibrant.
- Add grated coconut, mix well, switch off the heat, and serve warm.
Video
Notes
- You can chop the snow peas as you like—keep them whole, halve them, or finely chop them.
- Adjust salt and spice levels to suit your taste.
- If not making a no-onion, no-garlic version, you can sauté ¼ cup chopped onion after tempering before adding the snow peas.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
This looks so amazing Vidhya! Can’t wait to try it out! Thank you so much for sharing snow peas poriyal recipe 😍
Thanks glad you liked it.
I finally made this snow pea poriyal, and I loved how the fresh flavor of the peas really shined without any onion or garlic. It’s a light, crisp side dish that came together so quickly.
Thanks so much. Glad you liked it
These snow peas turned out. Amazing! They were easy to prepare, and made a great side dish, looking forward to making them again!!
Thank you
Great flavors…this is such a delicious side salad for the winter! The spice s are a beautiful blend of warm flavors.
Yes it is. Thanks so much.
I really enjoyed this. I kept the peas whole for more texture. Really good.
That’s awesome. They cook really fast so you can keep them whole.
I love getting all that bold flavor with a handful of ingredients! SO good.
Thank you :-)
This is a really tasty recipe. I love how you manage to pack so much flavor into dishes with such simple ingredients.
yeah absolutely. Thank you.