Bottle Gourd Skin Fry [লাউএর খোসা ভাজা]

Bottle gourd skin fry [লাউয়ের খোসা ভাজা] is a typically Bengali, and more specifically "Bangal" delicacy. The erstwhile residents of East Bengal [now Bangladesh] often colloquially referred to as "Bangals", were and are still known for their amazing culinary skills ; often they would end up creating mouth-watering dishes out of ingredients that normally are thrown away. One such dish is the bottle gourd skin fry, which goes very well with hot steamed rice.
The bottle gourd skin is generally scraped off while preparing the vegetable for making curry. This pale green skin has a smooth texture and barely any ridges or dry parts, hence it is easy to cut and cook it. Try this recipe out some day, and you will never stop trying it again.

Ingredients

1. Bottle Gourd skin, cut into fine julienne - 1 cup
   
2. Green Chilly-2-3, slitted
3. Black cumin seeds-1 tsp
   
4. Poppy Seeds -2 tbsp
   
5. Salt
6. Sugar
7. Turmeric
8. Oil for frying
   

Procedure

1. Julienne the bottle gourd skin finely.
2. Heat oil in a kadai/pan.
3. When heated, add the black cumin seeds and green chillies, and fry until the aroma releases.
4. Add the cut vegetable and fry for some time.
5. Add salt and turmeric and fry well, stirring continuously so that the skins gradually turn crisp. The ideal cooking would recommend use of oil to quite an extent, but as we all are calorie conscious nowadays, we can use less oil and rather cover the container in between to steam cook the vegetable until it softens.
6. You will realise the vegetable is cooked when oil will start releasing inside the pan. At this point, add the poppy seeds.
7. Mix the poppy seeds well with the bottle gourd skins and fry well, until they get cooked and crisp.
8. Add a bit of sugar at the end. Sugar is something not everybody uses for cooking vegetables, but it is a practice I have imbibed from my mother, and I do not feel my cooking is complete until I add some sugar to the recipe. The combination of sugar and salt adds a definitely different taste to any recipe, especially vegetarian recipes.
   
9. The vegetable is ready to be served now. Serve with hot rice, or as accompaniment to some dal.