Now I love it. Calabash is the same as Bottle Gourd, Doodhi or Lauki. This dish is cooked in its simplest form. I don’t add a lot of spices or tomatoes to this dish. However, you can also cook it without the shrimp. The exact same way I cooked this but omit the shrimp. Either way it tastes delicious. I love adding a little extra chilli but you can add as much or as little as you wish.
It is also important to choose the right Calabash. It should be a pale green colour with a smooth skin. Try and choose the “young” ones, they are a little smaller and thinner. The more “mature” ones tend to have a lot of big seeds, which is not very pleasant. There are many different ways to cook this dish. I am sharing my mums recipe. Some recipes also uses fresh shrimps, however I prefer the dried ones. I don’t really eat the shrimps from the curry but I love the flavour it adds to the dish.
Ingredients Required for this dish You will need 2 young calabash, vegetable oil, cumin seeds, dried shrimps, onion, turmeric, curry leaf and chilli Most ingredients are easily available. The dried shrimps can be purchased at the Indian seafood stores. However, fresh shrimp is more easily available so you can substitute if you wish. Cooking the dish I prefer to fry my shrimps in the oil first before adding the other ingredients. This way more of the flavour is released. If you using fresh shrimps you can do the same, ,however fry them for a few seconds and remove them. You can perhaps add a bit of chilli powder and garlic to the fresh shrimps, if you prefer Once the dish is cooked, you can add the shrimps and cook for a couple of minutes. Hope you love this dish as much as I do. More dishes to try: Brinjal with Garlic and Chilli Fenugreek Fried Potatoes Red Lentil Dal If you loved this, please share!
