Vegetable - Ridgegourd

Ridge gourd

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About the Vegetable :In everyday non-technical usage, the luffa, also spelled loofah, usually means the fruit of the two species Luffa aegyptiaca and Luffa acutangula. The fruit of these species is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable. The fruit must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in China and Vietnam. When the fruit is fully ripened it is very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens. Luffa are not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature.

Scientific / Binomial name : Luffa aegyptiaca

Popularly Known as : Loofah, Luffa, Beerakaya, Beerakayi, Ghosavala, Dodka, Gambas , Oyong, Chinese Okra, Jhinga, Ghiura ,Nenua

Usage :

• In Karnataka's Malenadu (Western Ghats) it is known as hirekayi,It grows naturally in this region and is consumed when it is still tender and green. It is mostly used as a vegetable in curries, but also as a snack, bhajji, dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried. Once the fruit dries out, it is used as a natural scrubber and washing sponge.
• In Andhrapradesh, it is called beerakaya. It is used as a vegetable in a curry, chutney and stir fry.
• In Kerala, it is called peechinga. It is used as a vegetable, cooked with dal or stir fried. Fully matured fruit is used as a natural scrub in rural Kerala. In some places like Wayanad, it grows as a creeper on fences.
• In Maharashtra, India, dodka (ridge gourd luffa) and ghosavala (smooth luffa) are common vegetables prepared with either crushed dried peanuts or with beans. In Northern India as well as Pakistan, turai (thoo-raee) is the common name for luffa. In Eastern India, It is also known as "jhinga","ghiura" or "nenua". In Nepal it is called "ghiraunla". In Tamil Nadu it is called "peerkangai".
• In China, Indonesia (where it is called gambas or oyong), the Philippines (where it is called patola) and Manipur, India, (where it is called sebot) the luffa is eaten as a green vegetable in various dishes. It is also known as "Chinese okra" in Canada. In Spanish, it is called an estropajo.
• Luffa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Hypercompe albicornis. In Myanmar, (where it is called tha-boot-thee)probably derived from the word sebot in Manipur. When it is young used as food and when it is mature and dry, cleared of all seeds and used as sponge for cleaning purposes. It is also widely used in steaming glutinous rice instead of cloth.