Once again, I come up with another bottle gourd recipe and I don’t regret it at all! It is another old and traditional vegan recipe, which is not only tasty but also a great example of using vegetable scraps. We Bengalis never throw vegetable peels away but make different dishes out of them like stir fry or spread (bhorta). It’s a great example of sustainable cooking that is being practiced by Bengalis for centuries. Today’s recipe is about bottle gourd peel spread. I might have mentioned in one of my previous post that bottle gourd is one of a kind vegetable, of which every part, including the plant itself is edible. Even there’s a folklore song in Bangladesh about the magnificent bottle gourd. So, let’s see how to make spread out of bottle gourd peel. You can follow the exact same recipe for making pumpkin peels spread too.

We definitely need all the basic ingredients for making bhorta like lots of garlic, onion, chili and mustard oil but what makes this bhorta unique is kalijeera or nigella seed.

First thing first, in a pan, I heated up one tablespoon of oil and added sliced onion. green chili and whole garlic cloves. You may wonder why I did not chopped the garlic. It is because we need to blend everything anyway, so no need for chopped garlic, but you can do it if you like. When the onion and garlic are slightly roasted, then add half of nigella seeds and stir. Add some coriander leaves and stir until onions are slightly caramelized.

I kept aside the onion garlic mixture to cool them down.

Now it is time to prepare the peels. I peeled the gourd slightly thick, with some white parts and cut then into small pieces.

Then in the same pan, I added the chopped pieces of peels with some salt. I sauteed the peel first in the leftover oil and then I added some water and cooked them in low heat until the peels changes in colour and get completely cooked. You can cover the pan with lid if you want to fasten the process.

I took the cooked peels in a blender jar along with roasted chili garlic and onion and blended them into semi-smooth paste.

For the last step, I heated some mustard oil in the same pan and added the rest of the nigella seeds for tempering. Then I added the peel onion paste that I’ve made previously and stirred everything until the paste get nicely toasted. When done, I put the spread or bhorta in a serving bowl and garnished with more mustard oil.

This is how the beautiful bhorta looks like. Imagine how it will be taste like with warm white rice in a cold rainy day! Just like this, a simple bhorta can make your day fulfilled with warmth and happiness.

Recipe: Lau khosa bhorta /Bottle Gourd Peel Spread

Ingredients: Peel of 1 whole Bottle Gourd Onion- 1 medium Garlic- 5 big cloves Green chili- 3/4 pieces Nigella seeds – 1tsp Oil Salt Fresh Coriander leaves

1. Lightly toast sliced onion and whole garlic cloves in a pan with vegetable oil. Add half of nigella seeds. Keep them aside and let them cool down. 2. Wash the gourd and peel it thickly. Cut them into small pieces. 3. In the same pan, slightly roast the peels in left over oils. Add some water to cook them. After cooking set them aside. 4. Take the cooked peels in a blender jar and blend to a semi- smooth paste. Add the previously toasted onion, garlic and green chili and blend again. 5. In the same pan, add a table spoon of mustard oil and heat it up. Add nigella seeds to temper the oil . Now add the paste to the pan and stir until all well incorporated with oil, slightly burned/roasted and aromatic. Put them in a serving bowl when done. Serve with white rice.