Calabash - Culinary Uses

Culinary Uses

In India, it is known as lauki (लौकी / લૌકી), dudhi (दूदी / દૂદી) or ghiya (घीया / ઘીયા) in Hindi/Urdu/Gujarati; Laau (ଲାଉ)in Oriya; aal (आल) in Marwari; churakka (ചുരക്ക) in Malayalam; jatilao in Assamese; lau (লাউ) in Bengali; sorakaaya (సొర కాయ) or anapakaya in Telugu; dudhi-Bhopala (दुधी भोपळा) in Marathi; sorekayi in Kannada; sajmain in Maithili and suraikkaai (சுரைக்காய் colloquilly sorakkay) in Tamil. A popular north indian dish is lauki channa, (channa dal and diced gourd in a semidry gravy). In Maharashtra, the skin of the gourd is used in making a Chutney preparation. In parts of India, the dried, unpunctured gourd is used as a float (called surai-kuduvai in Tamil) to learn swimming in rural areas. Indian musical instruments, such as the tanpura, sitar and rudra veena, are constructed from dried calabash gourds, using special cultivars that were originally imported from Africa and Madagascar. They are mostly grown in Bengal and near Miraj, Maharashtra. These gourds are valuable items and they are carefully tended, sometimes they are given injections to stop worms and insects from making holes while they are drying., etc.

The calabash, as a vegetable, is frequently used in southern Chinese cuisine as either a stir-fry or in a soup. The Chinese name for calabash is hulu (simplified Chinese: 葫芦; traditional Chinese: 葫蘆; pinyin: húlu) or huzi (Chinese: 葫子; pinyin: húzi) in Mandarin. Two common kinds of calabash sold in Chinese stores are the "Opo" kind, which is elongated but still plump, and "Mao Gua" which is very similar to Opo, but it has hairs, as its Chinese name references, which translates to "Hairy Squash". The hairs, although small, can get embedded in the skin, but it is usually safe for adults to handle.

In Japan, the species is known as hyōtan (瓢箪, 瓢簞?) or yūgao (夕顔?), with the former word referring particularly to the larger-fruiting variety whose fruits are used mostly for making containers or other handicrafts and the latter referring to the smaller-fruiting variety whose fruits are more edible. Names used to refer particularly to the fruit of one or another variety of this species include fukube (瓠, 瓢, ふくべ?) and hisago (瓠, 匏, 瓢, ひさご?). It is most commonly sold in the form of dried, marinated strips known as kanpyō, and is commonly used as an ingredient for making makizushi (rolled sushi).

In Korea, it is known as bak (박) or jorongbak (조롱박).

In Burma, it is known as ဗူးသီး boo thee, a popular fruit; young leaves are also boiled and eaten with spicy hot, fermented fish sauce called nga peet. In the Philippines, it is known as upo. In Italian cuisine, it is known as cucuzza (plural cucuzze).

In Central America, the seeds of the calabash gourd are toasted and ground with other ingredients (including rice, cinnamon, and allspice) to make the drink horchata. Calabash is known locally as morro or jícaro. In Colombia and Venezuela, the calabash is known as a tapara or totuma.

In Pakistan, it is known as lauki/kaddu in Urdu.

In Bangladesh, it is called lau (লাউ). In Nepali, it is called lauka (लौका). In Arabic, it is called qara. The tender young gourd is cooked as a summer squash. In Vietnam, it is called bầu canh or bầu nậm, and is used in a variety of dishes: boiled, stir-fried, soup dishes and as a medicine.

The shoots, tendrils, and leaves of the plant may also be eaten as greens.