Calabash and Prawn Curry

Calabash and Prawn curry

The humble calabash was one of the first vegetables in the world to be cultivated not for eating purposes, but for use as a vessel in which to keep liquids. This recipe pays tribute to the delicious vegetable, which has an almost buttery taste and melts in your mouth. 

For those who have no idea what a calabash is, it is part of the gourd family of vegetables and similar in consistency and taste to that of the squash family.  It has it's roots stemmed in Indian vegetarian cooking is bottled shaped and the shell is also used as a smoking pipe.  The calabash is available from most fruit and vegetable stores or suppliers.

I usually cook this as a vegetarian dish or with dried shrimp and my first attempt with fresh prawns was delectable!

The humble Calabash

Ingredients

1 cup shelled and de-veined prawns
1 medium size calabash (peeled and cut into small chunks)
Half an onion
Half a tomato
1 or 2 green chillies (You may even omit this, depending on how spicy you prefer it)
1 stem curry leaves
A pinch of cumin seeds
¼ tsp turmeric(optional)
1 tsp salt
350ml boiling water
1-2 Tblsp olive or coconut oil
¼ tsp ginger & garlic paste

Here's How

• Fry prawns in oil for about 2 minutes or until meat turns pink. Remove from oil.

• Finely slice onion and fry in prawn oil together with cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger & garlic paste.

• Add turmeric, tomato, calabash and salt to taste. Mix all the ingrediants together well and add 250ml boiling water.

• Cover and allow to cook until calabash is soft. Add prawns and the remaining 100ml water. Cover and allow to simmer on low heat for a further 15 minutes.

• Garnish with a few stems of fresh coriander and serve