Calabash with Shrimps
Calabash with Shrimps is a delicacy, that my mum cooked when I was young. At that time I didn’t like it much.
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
Calabash with Shrimps
Ingredients
- 2 calabash peeled and cubed, see note 1
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon dried shrimp
- 1 small onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 red chillies slit in half
- 2 green chillies slit in half
- 1 sprig curry leaf
- salt
Instructions
- Soak the shrimps in warm water for about 30 minutes, it will soften
- Rinse the shrimps a couple of times and discard the ones that looks black. That confirms it wasn't deveined and I prefer not to use them. Drain the water and set aside
- Heat the oil in a pot, on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds. Once it splutters add the shrimps
- Fry the shrimps for about a minute to release the flavour
- Add the onion, chillies and curry leaf and fry until the onion is translucent
- Add the turmeric and the calabash. Season with salt. Mix well. Cover and allow it to cook on a low heat for about 45 minutes or until the calabash is soft and tender
- The calabash releases a lot of moisture so no need to add water. In the last few minutes of cooking time, turn up the heat, remove the lid and allow any extra liquid to dry up before turning off the heat
Notes
- I used two young calabash that weighed 1.1kg
- You can use a potato peeler to peel the calabash or alternatively you can slice them into rings and peel each ring. It is easier that way. Cut them into small cubes
- You can adjust the amount of chillies, the chillies I used was hot and if you prefer a milder curry reduce the chillies to two
