At the Home, after the last bell rang and the kids clattered down the two or one flight of stairs, their Taylor Frame Slates & cane in place …(you should watch a blind kid run down stairs!) they served red rice with coconut chutney and bitter gourd fried. It was the tastiest thing I’ve ever had; how did they get the acrid rind to taste juicy soft delicious?
Marie Ann the French girl from Meghalaya, an Intern, she could not keep her fingers off the bowl. She put down her fork and knife and went at it with all her fingers.
It was marinated then fried in chillied seasoned curd, onion shreds stir fried with garlic. All this in turmeric seasoning, dried red chillie, rock salt… cook said. I’m sure there was coconut oil involved, and an amount of jaggery.
What I remember best about that moment there in the dining room with gourd delight, was the little silence around lunch and the relief of laughter later. Oh the sharing of recipes, from totally academic people who could not have touched much Cuisine in their life span. The interest shown here! Detailed love for forms of Gourd and its life: both as vegetation and as essential to human peace.
I love that about what good fellowship of food does to us Homosapiens, I especially love when one is surprised by unexpected flavors.
Innerdialects 
Sounds delightful, how nice for you. When you talk about food it always sounds so delicious. Have a blessed evening with your wonderful family my friend. Love Joni
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I’ve seen the bitter gourd but never tried it… Maybe next time I got to the Indian market I’ll see if there is a recipe and then purchase it!
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You should. It is good for humans too.
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I love trying new foods. this sounds yummy!
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Yes it does, takes a few trials though. Bitter gourd is quite a gourd😅
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We don’t eat gourds in the US. We only use them for decorating in the fall. But we do eat a lot of pumpkin & squash.
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I wonder what kinds of gourds you have;
Ahm bitter gourd isnt a fav, but has amazing health benefits.
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We have these
https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/gourds
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Wowwww must take a look. Thankyou!
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Here in England the most common is butternut / waltham squash, although i enjoy growing the hubbard types – especially the blue hubbard but also the golden and green.
there are some pictures here – https://plantedgardening.wordpress.com/
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We do eat some types of squash. I never think of them as gourds.
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We eat bitter gourd (and love Indian/South Asian food) but this sounds very interesting!
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You do? Yes theres all kinds of mixed recipes. Indian inter state cuisine is a genre all it’s own.😅
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Hi Rayla,
here is a blog that i have done called Planted Gardening, maybe you will enjoy it ♥
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https://plantedgardening.wordpress.com/
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How lovely to see you here Arron! Oh your Planted Garden blog? What a pleasant surprise. I LOVE gardens. Must visit and hang out there a bit if I may😃
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