I came across this odd looking vegetable that looks like a mini version of a local cucumber and watermelon and bought it to try cooking it at home. It belongs to the gourd (cucurbits) family and it is the same family as serpent gourd/ snake gourd.
It has yellowed slightly as I left it at room temperature and it ripened future. It is slightly hollow and contains seeds in the center that needs to be removed.
My local supermarket labels most of their vegetables and fruits in Malay language. However, it is sold as ‘potol’ in Bengali language instead of the Malay word ‘labu runcing’. This does indicate that it is mainly used in Indian or Bangladeshi cuisine.
I was looking out for a recipe and there were lots of curry and deep fried ones. Eventually I tried potol masala with the spices in my pantry.
Pointed Gourd Masala Recipe
Ingredients
5 pointed gourd
Cooking oil
Spices: ½ tsp garam masala, ¼ tsp cumin, ¼ tsp fennel, ¼ tsp turmeric, ¼ tsp mustard seeds, ½ tsp chilli powder
Paste: 1 onion, 1 clove garlic, ½ thumb size ginger
1 tomato
Method
1. Shallow fry pointed gourd with oil and put aside.
2. Heat up spices with oil.
3. Stir in paste.
4. Add tomatoes and pointed gourd.
5. Cook until pointed gourd is soft and add salt to taste.
How was it?
Flavour wise was okay but I prefer gourd recipes that are more convenient e.g. stir fry with garlic.
It is actually double the price (per kg) compared to luffa, hairy gourd/ melon, bottle gourd/ calabash and chayote so it might not be my first few choices when purchasing a gourd.