kakode stir fry with poppy seeds and almond powder

Kakode or Teal gourd (called kakrol, kheksa or ghee karela in different Indian languages) is a spiny looking miniature gourd that retains it's texture after cooking. It needs minimal cooking actually, a light stir fry is all you need to do and a mild seasoning works really well. I have posted a stuffed kakode with poppy seeds and a kakode pyaz ki subzi earlier.

You get two varieties of kakode in the markets and both of them differ slightly in flavors. One is a large, oval two inch size kakode which is more suitable for stuffed recipes, and another is the small pointed one inch kakode which suits quick stir fries more.

This time I found nice and fresh small variety of kakode and bough a kilo of it immediately. I had some powdered poppy seeds with almonds and a little cinnamon and nutmeg that I use for my hot milk sometimes and that powder got used up fr making this stir fry three times within a span of a week. Normally I would use just a coarse powder of poppy seeds and some garam masala or cinnamon and nutmeg grated over cooking kakode.

ingredients
(2 servings as a side dish)

kakode or teal gourd 300 gm
poppy seeds powder 2 tbsp
( I used a powder of almonds, poppy seeds and cinnamon and nutmeg)
pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg powders
salt to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
2 broken dry red chilies
1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji seeds)
mustard oil 1-2 tbsp

procedure

Remove the tip and tail of kakode and quarter them neatly. The seeds may be removed if you abhor it absolutely, I would recommend including them as the seeds are rich in omega 3s and are as good as any nuts in all respects. I like the crunch they provide to the stir fry as well.

Heat the oil in a pan or kadhai and tip in the nigella seeds and broken red chilies. Wait till they get aromatic and then add the chopped kakode. Add salt and turmeric powder and stir fry on medium heat till the kakode yield to pressure. They get cooked fats so take care to not to overcook them.

Add the powdered poppy seeds mixture and mix well. Stir fry for a couple of minutes more and remove form the stove. Squeeze lime juice over it to balance flavors of required, fresh kakode is flavorful on it's own so it was not required by me.

This stir fry tastes great with roti or rice and daal. With parathas it makes a nice lunch box subzi as well. The nutty flavors of the poppy seeds and almond is unmistakable, you wont want to waste even a small bit of this stir fry. So good it is.

Stuffed Kakode with poppy seed paste...

Kakode or Kakrol as it is called in North India is a gourd family vegetable that grows wild in whatever urban jungles are left around our cities. Many tribesmen living in the outskirts of the cities collect these little gourds (called Teal Gourd in English) and bring them to the urban markets. I have not seen these gourds in the fancier super markets yet. They can only be sourced from the roadside markets or the weekly vegetables market around my locality. I m not complaining as long as this beautiful vegetable is available to me.

A gentleman fro Bombay wrote a comment on my last Kakode post that he buys this vegetables from the tribal people in some suburban area and that was so heartening to know. We should always buy goods from these small road side vendors and tribals so they keep earning some money through local products and such vegetables never go extinct.

This is called Kheksa in Banaras.

This Poppy seeds stuffed Kakode recipe was reminded by a bong friend of mine and then I asked my mother casually over phone about this. She told me how she used to make it as I had very little memory of it. This vegetable was rarely seen even in those days and we all liked the bhujia ( stirfried kakode) more so that was the preferred preparation with Kakode.

You need to halve the little gourds first and then empty the innards well. Just making a sharp incision along the white periphery and then scooping out the pith works well.Do not discard the pith as it will be used for the stuffing masala.

Then the masala is stuffed inside each of these halves and shallow fried on both sides.

Looks easy? It actually is easy as you just have to make a Poppy seeds paste quickly in your trusted mixie (using the chutney jar) or the coffee grinder to make a fine powder of it.

Recipe of the poppy seeds stuffing...

ingredients...
{For 4-6 large Kakode (teal gourds)}
poppy seeds 3 tbsp
finely chopped Onions 1 tbsp
finely chopped Green chillies 1 tbsp or more if you like
finely chopped ginger 2 tsp
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
all the inner pith of the vegetable chopped up in small bits
salt to taste
Mustard oil 1 tsp
Nigella (kalonji) seeds 1/2 tsp
More mustard oil to shallow fry the stuffed vegetable, in my case about 1 tbsp was used

procedure...

Rub salt over the Kakode halves and let it rest till you prepare the masala paste.

Make a paste of poppy seeds. You would like to powder it dry initially and then adding some water and blend again to make a smooth paste. Adding 2 whole Cashew nuts right before the powdering step helps in making a smooth paste. The paste should be thick like good yogurt

Heat oil in a Kadhai (round bottom pan) and sprinkle the Nigella seeds in it. Wait till they sizzle.

Add in the chopped green chillies, onions and ginger. Fry till everything is softened. Add the chopped up kakode pith, sprinkle salt to taste and stir fry till softened.

Add pepper powder, mix well and then add the poppy paste and mix quickly so it gets homogenised with everything else and a bit thickened.

Take off heat and take out spoonfuls to fill in the Kakode halves. There is no need to cool the masala paste down but there is no problem even if it is cold. Actually this can be made a day in advance and proceeded as and when required. The leftover masala paste can be used to make other dry stir fries interesting too.

Heat a tbsp of mustard oil in  a flat pan. Non stick surface will good so use you Cast iron or whatever pan you use for such purpose.

Lay out the stuffed Kakode masala side up and let it fry till the base gets browned lightly. Keep the lid on for 5 minutes, flame medium.

Turn all the Kakode by flipping them, so the stuffing side gets browned too.

Serve hot as a side dish or a starter.

You would love to pop them in your mouth. The flavors are subtle as there is minimal spicing. The amount of green chillies might look more than you want but poppy seeds paste tastes great with green chillies. So keep them a bit on higher side than you normally do. Black pepper may be avoided if you want a richer Poppy taste. The poppy flavor is preserved well just because of minimal spicing.

Kakode greets Poppy seeds well , as much as it complements the Ridge gourd.

Have you tasted Jhingey Posto?

The leftover Poppy seeds masala paste was added to a simple Okra stir fry.

Just plain stir fried Okra in Ghee and some salt n pepper and then this paste is added to finish and mixed well. Tastes great with chapatis and daal or Rice and daal.


You would like all these kakode, Ridge gourd or even Okra with poppy seeds if you love this miniature nut. It is a tiny seed but is nutty is taste. Fragrant too.

Many other recipes with poppy seeds are waiting in my drafts as I have been quite lazy with posting on this blog of mine. You would get to see some Prawns in poppy seeds gravy very soon. And how a raw paste of Poppy can be had with just plain boiled rice.

Stay tuned.

kakode stirfried with shallots | kakode pyaz ki subzi

This is a vegetable which is unknown to many, it is called khekhsa in Banaras, kakode in Delhi, ghee karela in Jharkhand and kakrol in Madhya Pradesh and asTeasle gourd in English.

Teasle gourd is available in two varieties, one is a bigger sized and the other smaller which is considered tastier. I have heard about a tribal saying that eating this vegetable acts as a natural antivenom for snake bites, it sounds funny but tribal ethnomedicine has a time tested tradition, this fact needs to be investigated further and I ask my readers if they have any information about this...

One more interesting fact about this vegetable is, that it is not commonly cultivated and is collected from jungles mostly, that may be the reason for astronomical cost it demands whenever it is seen in the market here in Delhi....

You wont find many recipe of kakrol, khekhsa or kakode on the internet but this is such a mild flavored vegetable that can be cooked the way you like. We prefer a dry stir fry with it mostly but another curry with lightly sauteed kakode and a paste of poppy seeds is a delicacy in Bengal. In my family it was always made into a bhujia or pakoda.

I make this vegetable in the simplest way possible as I like the natural taste it has. The bigger variety demands frying till browned a bit but the smaller variety needs to be fried very briefly, just to get soft, as I like most of my stir fries.......

I used shallots with it as they impart a nice flavor to the vegetable as you see in the picture, the kakode are even smaller than the shallots. Chop the shallots as well as kakode in halves or quarters and stir fry in very little ghee.....

First heat a tbsp of ghee in a pan and throw in 1 tsp of cumin seeds into it.
 
When the cumin splutters, throw in the chopped shallots and kakode together (200 gm each kakode and shallots) Fry for a while, about 2-3 minutes, the veggies become a bit translucent, now throw in salt to taste and lots of pepper. Mix well and it's ready within 5 minutes.

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of amchoor powder and let it sit for a minute before serving. It has to be made just before serving as it tastes best when it is just fried..........

This stir fry of kakode or khekhsa tastes good with rotis or daal chawal as a mild flavored side dish.

You can add some more spices to suit your taste but take care not to overpower the mild flavour of the vegetable. It is better to make another spice dish on the side if you like spicy food, this stir fry will be enjoyed by those who appreciate milder subzis.