Name: Bottle Gourd Squash with Coconut and Curry Leaves (Thenga Shorrakai)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems; 2 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed; 10 to 12 medium-size to large fresh curry leaves; 1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt; 1½ pounds bottle gourd squash (see box); 2 tablespoons canola oil; ½ cup shredded fresh coconut; or ¼ cup shredded dried unsweetened coconut, reconstituted (see Note); 1 tablespoon coriander seeds

Raghavan Iyer

Bottle Gourd Squash with Coconut and Curry Leaves

Thenga Shorrakai

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

My mother’s coconut sauce is a perfect match for this squash (coconut plays a dual role, masking the pungent chiles and thickening the sauce)—but her mother-in-law, if she were alive today, still wouldn’t approve.

Ingredients

1½ pounds bottle gourd squash (see box)
2 tablespoons canola oil

Asia
India
Main course
Spicy
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

Cut off and discard the stem and heel ends of the squash. Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler and cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and the surrounding spongy mass with a spoon or a melon baller, creating firm-fleshed, pale green squash “boats.” Cut the squash boats into 1-inch pieces and place them in a medium-size saucepan. Pour in

Preparation info

Serves

Difficulty

Appears in

Ingredients

Method