Lau Chingri - Bottle Gourd/Chayote Squash with Shrimp

Lau Chingri

This is a Bengali recipe that traditionally uses bottle gourd, which I often replace with chayote squash because it's more readily available. Zucchini also works well in this recipe.

Bottle Gourd with Fish Heads - Lau'er Muro Ghonto

Lau'er Muro Ghonto

A friend of Hubby's enjoys fishing and brought me some of his catch. We got into a discussion of how the fish he catches is cleaned. He catches salmon and trout that are pretty big in size. Fish is my protein of choice and he was quite surprised to hear that the head is the most tasty part of the fish. He throws the heads away, so I begged him to save a couple for me the next time he went fishing.

Today he dropped by with six big heads. So I'm all set for the next month. Can't believe I don't have to go to the Asian store and pay for my next fish head. These heads are so fresh which I could tell by the bright red color of the gills. It took me a fair amount of time to clean the heads, discarding the mouth, fins and gills.

Fish head or muro in Bengali is prepared with a number of different vegetables, such as spinach, potatoes, eggplant, cabbage and even in pilaf with cauliflower. Bottle gourd (chayote squash is a good substitute) also pairs well with them, so I spent this afternoon making Lau'er Muro Ghonto. Regardless of how big the squash is, it amounts to practically nothing once it's cooked and releases its juices, so use 2 bottle gourds or 5 chayote squash, if necessary.

Enjoy!

Lau Shukto - Bottle Gourd in Mustard and White Poppy Seed Sauce

Lau Shukto

I love kitchen gadgets and finally broke down and bought a julienne-peeler. It's so easy to use and made short work of peeling and julienning 3 chayote squash.

On the menu for dinner was jumbo prawns steamed in mustard (sorshe) sauce. The ground mustard is strained for this dish, but I don't feel good about discarding the pulp, so I used it for making this lau shukto. Even though I didn't use bottle gourd (lau), chayote squash tastes just like it. The former is not available in the supermarkets and requires a special trip to an Asian or Indian market, so I often substitute chayote squash for bottle gourd. Any Indian preparation that uses bottle gourd tastes just as good with this squash. Zucchini is another option that works well.

Both the mustard and white poppy seeds are ground with a green chili each and salt. The bitterness of the black mustard seeds is eliminated by soaking them in an equal quantity of salt and tap water for at least 2 hours or until the seeds turn red. They need to be rinsed thoroughly through several changes of water to get rid of the salt. I use a tea strainer to do this.

The white poppy seeds are soaked in boiling water and set aside to cool to room temperature. This softens the seeds and produces a smoother paste when blended.

This is a very quick and easy dish to prepare once the two sauces are blended. Using the julienne-peeler cut the squash in very even strips, so it took no time at all to cook.

Lau Chingri II - Squash Cooked with Ginger and Shrimp

Lau Chingri

This is a Bengali recipe that traditionally uses bottle gourd, which I often replace with chayote squash because it's more readily available. Zucchini also works well in this recipe.

Burmese Bottle Gourd Broth - Buthi Hinjo

Buthi Hinjo

Burmese meals almost always include a bowl of Hinjo (soup) or Hinga (sour soup). These soups are composed of different vegetables in very light and clear broth. Unlike a soup course in a Western meal, Hinjo is not served as a first course. It is sipped throughout a Burmese meal because it serves to wet and cleanse the palate so that the distinct tastes of salty, sour, bitter or sweetness can be better enjoyed. Water is rarely served at a Burmese table; Hinjo is served in its place.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

3 cups water + 2 cups chicken broth (vegetarians use 5 cups water)

1 tsp. shrimp powder (vegetarians use 1 heaped teaspoon julienned nori)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce (optional)

1/2 bottle gourd/lauki, peeled and cubed (seedless cucumber works too)

1 small onion, diced

1 cup romaine lettuce, shredded

salt to taste

Lime, cut in wedges

2 green onions, sliced thin

Directions

1. Divide lettuce and green onions between 4 bowls & set aside.
2. Bring water and chicken broth to a boil and turn heat down to med-low.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until lauki is soft.
4. Ladle soup over lettuce in the 4 bowls (lettuce will wilt in hot broth).
5. Serve with wedges of lime.

Bottle Gourd with Shrimp in Mustard Sauce

Lau Chingri Shorshe Bata

Lau Chingri is a favorite dish in our household. It is traditionally made with bottle gourd, but I prefer using chayote squash because it is more readily available and to me, they taste the same. To try something a little different, I added mustard paste and it tasted wonderful!

Lau Chingri - Bottle Gourd/Chayote Squash with Shrimp & Potatoes

Lau Chingri

This is a Bengali recipe that traditionally uses bottle gourd, which I often replace with chayote squash because it's more readily available. Zucchini also works well in this recipe.

Lau Chingri Posto - Bottle Gourd/Chayote Squash & Shrimp in White Poppy Seed Sauce

This is a traditional Bengali recipe that I have tweaked by adding the white poppy seed sauce and replacing bottle gourd with chayote squash. 

Burmese Stir-Fried Chayote Squash

Chayote squash is also known as choko or Darjeeling squash and may be replaced with zucchini or bottle gourd. Select light green chayote squash which indicate they're still young and sweet. 

Muro Lau

Squash with Fish Bones

I remember Mum making this for us. She is such an inspiration to us all! She had such a zest for life and enjoyed cooking till the last and was so willing to share her recipes. I've tried to reproduce this as best my memory will allow.

Fish bones are available in any oriental market that sells live and fresh fish.  The bones that are left over from filleting fish are packaged and sold separately.  Fish heads may be included among the fish bones.  I recently purchased a package of Garupa/Grouper fish bones which was used in this recipe. Marinating the fish bones in garlic paste, turmeric and salt removes the fishy smell.  

The green chilies are of a tiny Thai variety that I grew in a container on my front porch. When the weather got too cold I had to harvest the remaining chilies on the plant so I froze them in a ziploc bag and have been using them ever since. If left to ripen on the plant, the chilies turn a bright red.

Chayote squash may be replaced with Lau/Lauki (Bottle Gourd) or Zucchini.

Ingredients:

3 chayote squash, peeled & julienned

Marinate for ½ hour: 

1 pkg. (1½ lbs.) fish bones, cut in pieces

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

½ tsp. turmeric

Salt 

Gravy:

1 cup hot water

1 Tbsp. ginger paste

½ tsp. roasted cumin powder

Salt to taste

Aromatics:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 green chili, chopped

¼ tsp. cumin seeds or Shah Jeera

¼ tsp. black mustard seeds

Garnishes:

4 green chilies

2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

½ tsp. garam masala powder

1 tsp. ghee

Method:

1.    Marinate fish bones in garlic paste, salt and turmeric for ½ hour.

2.    Bring water to boil & simmer gravy ingredients over low heat until needed.

3.    Heat oil in a pan and pan-fry fish bones until golden; set aside.

4.    In the same oil, fry aromatics, stir in squash and cook until soft.

5.    Add simmering gravy and fish bones, cover and cook until oil resurfaces.

6.    Garnish with garam masala powder, green chilies, cilantro and ghee.

7.    Serve on a bed of hot Basmati rice.

Lau Chingri Posto

Bottle Gourd & Shrimp in White Poppy Seed Gravy

This is another one of Mum's recipes that I retrieved from my notebook.  She taught me that the vegetables in any recipe must all be cut the same size and shape so that they cook evenly. The bottle gourd/squash can be replaced with pumpkin, sweet potatoes, zucchini, okra, eggplants or practically any other vegetable.   

Ingredients:
2 bottle gourd or 5 Chayote Squash, peeled & cut in strips
1 russet potato, peeled and cut in strips
1/2 lb. medium size shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. nigella seeds (a.k.a. kalo jeera/kalonji)
1 dried red chili, deseeded
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp. ginger paste
1 large tomato, chopped
3 tsp. white poppy seeds (a.k.a. posto/khus khus)
3 tsp. black mustard seeds
3 tsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp. sugar
Salt to taste
3-5 green chilies
cilantro 
1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. Peel gourd/squash & potato.  To cut gourd in strips, cut in half lengthwise, slice crosswise into crescents, stack crescents and cut into strips.  To cut squash, remove tops, cut in half and soak in water. Place one half cut side down on chopping block and slice crosswise into crescents, then cut into strips. Cut potato in the same way. Set all aside.
2. Soak mustard seeds in tepid water and a tsp. salt for an hour.  Drain and set aside.
3. Soak poppy seeds in boiling water and set aside to cool.
4. In a blender, combine drained mustard seeds, poppy seeds along with water, 1 green chili and some salt.  Liquefy until paste turns white.
5. Toss shrimp with salt and saute lightly in oil until pink. Set aside.
6. Sputter nigella seeds and dried chili in hot oil.
7. Add onions and fry until translucent.
8. Add gourd/squash, tomatoes, salt to taste and ginger paste. Stir well.  
9. Cover and simmer on medium heat until done.
10. Add shrimp, sugar and blended paste. Cook for 5 minutes.
11. Garnish with green chilies, cilantro and ghee.  Remove from heat.

Serve as a side dish with hot rice, chapatis or naan.

Bottle Gourd with Shrimp

This is one of Mum's recipes and is the Burmese version of Lau Chingri.  Bottle gourd is available in Indian grocery stores, but can be replaced with zucchini or chayote squash.