The Versatility of Bottle Gourd in a Gujarati Kitchen

Be it handvo or muthiya, doodhi no halwo, or doodhi chana nu shaak, the simple bottle gourd has found its way into Gujarati cuisine in myriad ways.

The aroma of food that is familiar always brings back memories — the scent of elaichi in halwa, or the nutty fragrance of sesame seeds in handvo. Both remind me of childhood — when home smelt of indulgence. It caught me by surprise then, to realize that most of the dishes that I reminisce about have a common ingredient — bottle gourd, or doodhi, as we call it in Gujarati.

Doodhi in Gujarati Kitchens

Pale bottle gourd is infamously bland, and rarely spotted on the menus of fancy restaurants. And in most home kitchens, it is grated or stuffed-in, so that its real form is disguised. Nonetheless, this fruit (no, it’s not a vegetable) is used widely in Gujarati cuisine. It is traditionally recommended for diabetics, pregnant women, and heart patients, but there is another reason for its ubiquity. According to Mallika Parikh, who has been catering vegetarian cuisine in Bangalore for over two decades, “A lot of Gujarati dishes are made of besan flour and bajra (pearl millet flour). Doodhi blends well with these flours and helps make the dough soft, given its high water content. It is also rich in fiber and therefore, great for digestion,“ she explains. Mallika’s personal favourites include panki, which she makes with bajra and bottle gourd.

Our school lunch box often featured doodhi chana nu shaak, a healthy curry made with chana dal and bottle gourd, chopped into cubes. A perfect accompaniment with ghee-smeared rotli (phulka) or rice, this curry is a delicious melange of sweet, sour and spicy flavours. Like many other preparations in Gujarati cuisine, this one is flavoured with jaggery and tomato for a balance of tart and sweet. Evenings meant theplas (spiced flatbread), often with interesting stuffing (like leftover dal and veggies from the afternoon meal). Doodhi, in grated form, elevates the flavour and health value of these theplas. Our picnic and travel memories are incomplete without theplas stacked in steel boxes, smeared with jam or athanu (pickle) or simply rolled and dipped in masala chai.

Making Handvo in a Modern Kitchen

I have tried to replicate the flavours of home in my cooking. Some have been easy, but others like handvo, a savoury vegetable cake, have taken several attempts. While traditionally made with a doodhi filling, variants with pumpkin and carrots have been popular. The original recipe uses a batter of ground rice, chana dal, tuvar dal and urad dal. Nowadays, however, the instant variety with rava is popular. In this variation, rava is mixed with grated bottle gourd, curd, ginger, green chillies, salt and spices. For quick fermentation, fruit salt is also added. This mix is then tempered with oil and sesame seeds. Slow cooked, it transforms into a fluffy delight with a crusty top. Flipped like a pancake, it is cooked on both sides for texture. As kids, we ate handvo with tomato sauce, but as we grew older, coriander chutney suited our palates.

There is one more dish that comes to my mind when I think of doodhi. My grandmother’s muthiyas; steamed and tempered dumplings or koftas, made by combining wheat flour, semolina, besan or channe ka atta, ginger, green chillies and other spices. The dough is then shaped into cylindrical rolls and steamed; then sliced into bite-sized pieces, tempered with sesame seeds, curry leaves and hing or asafoetida. They made for delicious evening snacks, and sometimes dinner with ghau bajra na thepla (flatbread made with whole wheat flour and pearl millet).

Besides savoury dishes, many of my sweet memories associated with the bottle gourd are related to desserts. Doodhi no halwo is one of them. Made with ghee, sugar and bottle gourd, flavoured with nuts and cardamom, this is the lesser-known sibling of gajar ka halwa. The preparation is similar, and involves cooking grated bottle gourd in ghee first, then in boiled milk. Sugar and nuts are usually added in the latter part of the recipe.

The versatility of doodhi has made me realize that perhaps I took this gourd for granted for years. I never gave it the respect that perhaps I did to the equally versatile potato. But now, I will, as this vine takes me back to my roots.

RECIPE FOR BOTTLE GOURD HANDVO

Ingredients
1 cup rice
1/2 cup split moong dal
1 tbsp channa dal
1 tbsp tuvar dal
1 tbsp urad dal
½ cup curd
¼ tsp baking soda
1 small bottle gourd
½ inch ginger
3 cloves garlic (optional)
1 green chilly (optional)
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch hing
Few curry leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp coriander powder
½ cup chopped coriander leaves
2 tsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste

Method
Rinse and soak the dals and rice for 4-5 hours and grind after draining the water. Blend again with curd. Add the baking soda. Mix well and let it ferment overnight.

Rinse, peel and grate bottle gourd (drain out the excess water). Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Once the seeds crackle, add hing and curry leaves. Add crushed ginger, garlic and green chillies. Sauté for a couple of minutes and add the bottle gourd. Add the turmeric and coriander powder and then chopped coriander leaves. Mix well. Add this mixture to the handvo batter. Season with salt.

Now heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Keep the flame low. For crispy base, use more oil. Pour 1 or 2 ladles of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top. Cover and cook on low flame. When the sides turn golden, lift and flip over with a spatula. Drizzle some oil and cook on the other side. Once cooked, slice into pieces and serve with coriander chutney.

Barkha Shah is a Bangalore-based freelance writer and digital marketing strategist. Her work has been published in the form of features, poetry and short stories.

Banner image credit: Recipes in Hindi 

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