How to bring main-character energy to ash gourd
Summary
Festive treats, temple dishes and iconic sweets — here are recipes that add flavour and fun to ash gourd
If vegetables had a pageant, and “Miss Blandness" was a title, ash gourd would win it hands down, with lauki (bottle gourd) as the close runner-up. These are the wallflowers of the produce world—pale, watery and lacking strong opinions. Yet Indian kitchens have infused main-character energy into them. It seems like a vengeance move—take the blandest vegetable and turn it into a superstar.
Why else would the humble ash gourd find itself in festive feasts, temple kitchens and iconic sweets?
Most children don’t like gourds. They won’t eat it unless mashed and sneakily blended into food. I’m guilty (and proud) of regularly smuggling mashed pumpkin into my son’s weaning meals. Later, it found its way into pasta sauces, parathas and khichdis. Controversial opinion, but I believe it’s every parent’s birth right to sneak veggies into any dish until the child is old enough to appreciate flavours for what they are.
Also read: Dip into mapo eggs and noodles for breakfast
As a kid, I didn’t need ash gourd to be disguised. I was (and still am) a die-hard fan of avial, where ash gourd plays the lead role. On the mornings I woke up to see my grandmother (ammama) sitting on the kitchen floor with her aruvamanai (a traditional curved blade on a wooden base) with an assortment of vegetables, I knew what was coming for lunch. Ammama would tackle a large wedge of ash gourd slicing it into perfect batons.
While many homes may use a strict combination of vegetables for avial, ours was more flexible. Ash gourd was essential, but everything else depended on the bits and bobs left in the fridge. It could be yam, sweet potato, raw banana, brinjal, carrots, even potatoes. The main rule was everything had to be chopped into batons of almost equal size. All of these were cooked just right and then stirred into a fresh spice paste of grated coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds.
The avial, served at Onam sadyas and Tamil weddings, is a dry curry with the masala just coating the veggies. The one I prefer is a more watery version made in my family called avial kuzhambu. In this, a lot more water is added while cooking the veggies due to which you have quite a bit of vegetable stock left in the pot. Once the veggies are cooked, a bit of tamarind water goes into the pot with a bit of rice flour slurry and it is simmered for a few minutes. This is mixed into rice and eaten as against the other version which is had as a subzi.
Let’s travel up north from here to a small sweet and farsan shop in Jhansi. I was there last month with Richa Tiwari of Travel Like Her on an all-women trip to Bundelkhand. Tiwari, who hails from Jhansi, took us to Mor Mukut Petha, a store famous for pethas. Petha, in my opinion, has more sugar per gram than any Indian sweet.
I don’t care for its taste but when Tiwari told me to try the angoori petha, I did take a small bite. The juiciness of the petha was a redeeming factor here as compared to the dry sugar soaked chunks sold as regular petha.
A sublime ash gourd dish I must leave you with is from my current home state, Karnataka, which is perfect for summer—majjige huli. It’s a low-drama, high comfort buttermilk curry that once tried, becomes the dish you crave on hot summer days to slurp up with rice.
AVIAL
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g ash gourd (after removing seeds)
1 medium potato
1 plantain
2 small brinjals
2 drumsticks
1 carrot
1 tsp salt
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half cup fresh grated coconut
1-and-a-half tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies (adjust as per preference)
1 tbsp coconut oil
Method
Prep and cut all vegetables into 2-inch batons with around 2-cm width.
In a large pot, pour in a cup of water, salt and turmeric. Add ash gourd, potato, plantain and brinjal and cook on a medium flame until tender. Pressure cook the carrot and drumstick with half-cup water and a pinch of salt for one whistle. Combine this with the other cooked vegetables.
Blend the coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies to a fine paste with a splash of water. Mix this paste gently into the cooked veggies and bring to a simmer.
Drizzle with raw coconut oil. Serve with rice and sambar.
MAJJIGE HULI
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 cups diced ash gourd
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half tsp salt
Half cup grated coconut
2 green chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
Half tsp grated ginger
2 cups butter milk (1 cup sour yogurt + 1 cup water, whisked)
2 tsp coconut oil
Half tsp mustard seeds
Quarter tsp fenugreek seeds
1-2 dried red chillies
Method
In a pot, combine the ash gourd with turmeric, salt and half cup of water of water. Cook until the ash gourd is tender.
Blend the coconut, green chillies, cumin and ginger to a fine paste with a splash of water. Add the paste to the cooked ash gourd. Mix in the prepared buttermilk and keep the flame low. Once the huli comes to a simmer, remove from the flame so that it does not split.
In a small pan, heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chillies. When the mustard seeds splutter, transfer the tempering over the huli. Enjoy with rice.
Also read: How to add fizz to tender coconut water
Double Tested is a fortnightly column on vegetarian cooking, highlighting a single ingredient prepared two ways. Nandita Iyer’s latest book is The Great Indian Thali. She posts @saffrontrail on Instagram and X.
