Achocha

achocha the fruit of a tropical American tree, Cyclanthera pedata, widespread in Mexico and S. America, of the cucurbit group. The gourds or fruits, which are about 5 cm (2") long, yellowish-white, and prickled on the upper part, are cooked as a vegetable, notably in Peru. The name achocha (or achuccha) is a native one, used in that country.

Herklots (1972) records that, mysteriously, this plant has come to be cultivated and eaten in parts of Nepal, where it is called korila. He describes the tiny black seeds, vividly, as being like ‘diminutive mud turtles with head and neck outstretched and projections at the corners where the feet would emerge beneath the carapace’.