Goodnight Mrs. Calabash...Whatever You Are. A Tale of Ancient Squash

   Last week I went on one of my regular shopping runs to Santa Rosa. I needed to do a "Big Shop," a 50 mile round trip type shop. TP,  paper towels and  dish soap from Costco and a whirl through my favorite Asian markets on Petaluma Hill Road. The Markets in Santa Rosa aren't Indian markets. Not by a long shot. They're Thai and Cambodian. There is only one Indian Market in all of Sonoma County and that's located in Cotati, conveniently next to the girls of Sift, winners of last year's Cupcake Wars.
   I have to watch my step in that neighborhood. Too much temptation all around. Between homemade gulab jamuns at the market and tequila blueberry cupcakes and Whoopie Pies as big as my head at Sift, once I'm in these places I'm a goner. So the Thai and Cambodian markets are on my regular run. They don't have everything I need for Indian cooking but they have most of it, and there are no cupcake joints anywhere near them. So there's that.
  Just as I was about to step out the door, I tweeted that I was going on a bottle gourd, bitter melon run and a couple of seconds later Paula Wolfert tweeted back to ask if I'd  also pick her up a pound of bottle gourd for a tagine dish she was working on. This started me thinking. Ever since I'd started cooking Indian food 20 plus years ago, I'd been cooking vegetables that I'd thought of as strictly Indian. So what was Paula wanting with bottle gourd for Moroccan food? Turns out bottle gourd gets around.
   First of all, it's got a lot of aliases. It's known as Opo, opu, doodhi, jicaro, calabash, long melon, boo thee, cucuzza, lauki, ghiya, lau and quara. Paging Interpol. Secondly, it's got a lot of uses. Everything from soup to bongs. Yes, in Jamaica the calabash gourd is used by Rastafarians for just that. Dude. Thirdly, this thing's been around a looooooong time. In fact some scientists believe that bottle gourd was being cultivated in America about 8000 years ago, and grown for an equally long time all over the world.
   So why isn't it better known on the current American table? It depends on who you ask. As I mentioned above, bottle gourd gets around. It's known in many places and under many names.
 When I made my bottle gourd hand-off to Paula at the bakery this morning, Pina, a local woman who hails from Sicily said, "Oh, That's a cucuzza! Where did you get it?"
   As I said it all depends on who you ask. Right now I have a fridge full of bottle gourd, among other things.

You can too if you visit your local Asian market. If you can't get bottle gourd, something tells me this recipe for squash in a tomatoey sauce with spices and peas would work equally well with zucchini, or chayote squash.

Indian Squash Stew

Here's what to do:

In a small bowl mix together:
 2 Tbs of tomato paste
 1/2 cup of water
 1/2 cup of whipping cream

 Set it aside.
 Peel and chop 1 lb of bottle gourd (or whatever squash you have) into 1/2 inch chunks.

Set the chopped squash aside.
If you are using frozen peas, defrost them and set them aside.

Mix together a spice blend of:
 4 whole cloves
 1/4 tsp of fennel pollen ( or ground fennel)
 1/2 tsp of garam masala
 1 Tbs of ground coriander
 1 tsp of turmeric
 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
 1/4 tsp of kashmiri chili or 1/8 tsp of cayenne 1/8 tsp of paprika

  6 curry leaves
  3 medium size tomatoes seeded and chopped or 1 can of chopped tomatoes.

1 Tbs of melted unsalted butter

  1 whole green serrano chili
Mix all of these ingredients in a large skillet or kadhai (except the peas) on medium heat.
Put a lid on it, lower the heat and simmer the whole shebang for about 30 to 40 minutes until the squash is tender.
Keep an eye on it. Check it every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking. Add a bit of water if needed.
When the squash is tender, add in the peas.

 Stir them a bit to warm them up.

Take out the cloves and the whole green chili, garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and mint and serve it up.

   This is squash at its' best, spicy with cinnamon and cloves and a bit of heat. The vegetable is soft and buttery and yet unlike the more common zucchini, it holds it's shape and firmness after cooking. This is what bottle gourd is all about. If you have any way of getting ahold of it, try. You won't regret it.
   Coming up next what happens when that same bottle gourd puts on her heels gets tarted up and goes to town? Just call her Sweetstuff. This isn't your Grandmas' zucchini cupcakes. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

When You Can't Always Get What You Want... Get Zucchini

   When I lived in Los Angeles, anything for my Indian kitchen was practically steps away. Bitter melon? Got it. Bottle gourd? Check. Fresh turmeric root and ridged gourd? Fuggedaboutit! There was no recipe that I couldn't tackle, no ingredient I couldn't find. Then we changed our base of operation to Sonoma's Wine Country and LA became the temporary residence. Now I am up to my ass in 14 different kinds of sage, fresh gourmet olive oils (I have my own tree) every wine and cheese under the sun, artisanal breads and a wealth of fresh (luckily inexpensive) organic fruit and vegetables. But when I want the exotic stuff I have to send away for it, or hit the road for a 50 mile round trip. Or pick it up when I'm in LA on business.
   Since I try to be a good little locavore, the task before me (should I choose to accept it) is cooking Indian with what grows around me. Fortunately many of the same vegetables grown in India are also grown here. But every now and then I want that smack of bitter melon or long beans and I'm s**t outta luck as my dad says. So when I can't always get what I want, I get what I need and usually that involves zucchini.

  Zucchini, like my husband's old college buddy Harry, always seems to be around and isn't always welcome. People say that when the world ends they'll be only two things left. Styrofoam and cockroaches. I'd like to nominate a third. Zucchini.
  Zucchini are tricky. They're everywhere this time of year and nearly all times of year, and they're cheap. Cheap I cannot resist. When I market it's the siren song that rings in my ears. "Yo, Gori, I got your 99 cents deal right here!" It's always zucchini and I always take it home with me. Sort of like last call on a Saturday night at the Roxy... but no. That was the 70's, this is now and zucchini is in the house. So, what to do with it?! Cook it like the vegetable I do not have, that's what. Cook it like ridged gourd.
  This, is Ridge Gourd.

It is not zucchini. Nothing is quite like ridge gourd but it's sort of close in a pinch. Both are squash, but if you let a Ridge Gourd go, it turns into this. Otherwise known as a Loofa. One can exfoliate with it.

If you let a zucchini go, it turns into something dark and liquidy in the bottom of the fridge. Trust me, I know. You do not want to exfoliate with it.
   But a zucchini when ripe can stand in for a Ridge Gourd aka Luffa. It won't taste exactly the same, Zucchini is more watery and the Ridge Gourd is sweeter, but if you are bored with the usual zucchini dishes, this works like a charm. Here's my adaptation of a Ridge Gourd recipe done with Zuccs. There are minimal ingredients so it's ready pretty darn fast.

Zucchini Curry

Here's what to do:
 Soak 2 Tbs of white poppy seeds in 1/2 cup of water for about 30 minutes, then drain them.
Grind them in a spice grinder or blender along with:
 3 green chilies seeded and chopped
 1/2 tsp of salt
Grind it to paste and set it aside.
Chop 1 lb of zucchini into cubes, and set them aside
In a large skillet or kadhai heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil
When the oil is hot toss in:
 2 whole cloves and
 3 chopped red onions.

Cook the onions until they're a bit browned, about 5 minutes or so.
Add in the chopped zucchini and saute for another 5 minutes or so

 Add in 1/2 tsp of turneric and mix it up well

 Add the poppy seed paste mix

check for seasoning and add a bit more salt if needed.
Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or so, until the zucchini is tender. Serve it up.

  There it is, another way of doing something with all that wonderful zucchini we're all treated to this time of year. If on your travels to any Asian or Indian market in your area you discover Ridge Gourd, do try this as it's intended, and no, soaking your loofa won't do.
  Coming up next, more veg and more friends go gluten free. Eat Indian say I! Plus a visit to small town America. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

I'm a Badi Badi Girl...

Badis, oh I love them! Crunchy,spicy chunks of dal that are dried into hard nuggets and chopped up and added to any number of Indian vegetarian dishes to give them a kick in the keister.
Badis come in many varieties and heats depending on what part of India they come from. Oh, and sometimes they're call Vadi, or Wadis, either way look for them at any indian grocery. I always have a bag of Punjabi Badi in my cupboard. It's hot with lots of pepper and spices and a smoky fragrance. Today I took it out. Maybe I just felt like pounding something with a mallet, maybe I wanted something extra spicy..who knows? Where else can one take a hammer to something and turn out something completely delicious?
I have a fridge full of all the vegetable booty that I dragged up the hill from the Farmers Market the other day. One of the farmers I partonize stuck a couple of extra globular squash in my bag as a gifty. She wanted me to try them, and since todays dish involves several varioety of squash and peas. I pulled it out of the vegetable drawer.
This dish is a mixture of soft vegetables with crunchy Badi, It's my adaptation of a recipe from Yamuna Devis' book Lord Krishnas' Cuisine. This dish calls for squash, but I find that almost any vegetable that one has loitering about the house will work. What one wants is a firm texture and since there are so many types of squash, knock yourself out. I daresay that eggplant would also work, perhaps pumpkin..you get the drift. try it the basic way, see if you like it then improvise.
Start Out with
1.) 1/2 cup of dried Punjabi Badi, mallet them down into pea sized pieces. Set them aside



2.) 5 small zucchini and 4 summer squash.

I use zucchini and globe squash, any squash will do. Mix them with
3.) 1/2 cup of peas, fresh or frozen.
4.) 4 whole cloves
5.) 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
6.) 2 Tbs of chopped fresh mint.
7.) 4 Tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
8.) 2 fresh green chilies

In a large skillet melt 2 Tbs of unsalted butter or ghee

When the ghee/butter foams add the Badis and stir fry them till they turn golden brown



Stir in the vegetable spice mix.

9.) Add to that 2/3 cup of 1/2 and 1/2.



Lower the heat. Put a lid on the skillet and cook slowly for about 20 to 30 minutes. stir every now and then. When your vegetables are nicely simmered remove the chili peppers add 1/2 teasp. of salt and serve.

Badis aren't that hard to find if there's an Indian market nearby, or they can be mail ordered easily. Either way it's one more thing to do with zucchini.

The Invasion Of The Zucchini People

It's August and the one thing most people dread hearing more than, wanna come over and see the videos from our vacation? is , hey want some zucchini?

I grew up Italian, and ergo, I grew up eating zucchini, or in my case not eating it. They say eskimos have 200 words for snow, Italians have about 200 recipes for zucchini and I think I've had most of them. It's not the most exciting vegetable in my pantry and I'm always hesitant to prepare it..so i don't. Indian recipes are so full of a variety of vegetables, okra, and spinach, and green beans ,cauliflower, bitter melon potato and drumsticks..yes drumsticks are a vegetable, but that's for another day.
Zucchini are so plentiful this time of year, and so cheap that it seems a crime against the bankbook not to cook with them.
There's a Bangaladeshi recipe that I ran across in the cookbook Mangos and Curry Leaves that's just perfect for a hot summer lunch or dinner on the deck. It's comfortable next to other Indian vegetarian dishes, or a plain roast chicken as I did the other night.Zucchini stands in for the Indian potal squash. Plus, it only has 4 ingredients and takes about 8 minutes to cook, and you can't beat that.
So, get those zukes ready here's how it goes.
Start with

1.) 4 small zucchini

2.) slice them in 1/2 inch thick rounds.

3.) Mix together 1/4 tsp. of turmeric
4.) 1/4 tsp. of ground black mustard seeds
5.) 1/4 tsp. of cayenne
6.) 1 tsp of sugar



7.)Heat 2 Tbs of oil in a deep pan or Indian karhai and when the oil is hot pour in your spices and stir fry for a few seconds.



8.) Add the zucchini and move them around and stir them up keeping them moving.

9.) They'll be done in about 4 minutes. Sprinkle them with about 1/2 tsp. of salt and serve.

So there you have it, a great way to get rid of all those pesty zucches the neighbors keep leaving on your doorstep.
Say.... anybody wanna see some home movies???