Wax gourd

Benincasa hispida, thewax gourd,also calledash gourd,white gourd,winter gourd,winter melon,tallow gourd,ash pumpkin,Chinese preserving melon,is avinegrown for its very largefruit, eaten as avegetablewhen mature. 
It is native toSouthandSoutheast Asia. The wax gourd is widely grown throughoutAsia,includingJavaandJapan,the places where it is thought to have originated.
One variety of the plant, calledchi qua(Benincasa hispidavar.chieh-qua), is commonly used in Asian cuisine.
The name "winter melon" that is sometimes given to this plant is based on the Chinese namedōngguā(冬瓜); however, thecharacter瓜(guā) can also mean "gourd" or "squash".It is likely that the name "melon" is given because this gourd is sometimes candied or made into a sweet tea.
The name "wax gourd" comes from thewaxcoating in the fruit's skin.
The plant grows thick vines with coarse and hairy stems. It has large, rough leaves with a width between 4–12 inches (10–30 cm) long.
In early summer from June to September, golden yellow flowers form in the leaf axils.
After they are fertilized, they bear obloid fruits 50–60 cm long by 10–25 cm wide; young fruits are covered with soft fuzzy hairs which eventually disappearand develop a waxy coating that gives the fruit a longshelf lifeof up to a year.
The melon may grow as large as 80 cm in length. The fruit has thick flesh that is sweet, crisp and juicy; it has white or yellow seeds.
It is grown in well-drainedloamand sandy soils in warm, mild climates, and will not tolerate frosts. It is grown in riverbeds orfurrows, and needs constantirrigationduring the growing season.
The wax gourd can be stored for many months, much likewinter squash. Ash gourds of the Indian subcontinent have a white coating with a rough texture (hence the name ash gourd). Southeast Asian varieties have a smooth waxy texture. It is one of the few vegetables available during winter in areas ofdeciduousvegetation. In India, the wax gourd is recognized for its medicinal properties in theAyurvedic system of medicine.It also has significance in spiritual traditions ofIndiaandYoga, where it is identified as a great source ofprana.
InCambodia, it is known astralach(Khmer:ត្រឡាច), and used in soup and stews inCambodian cuisine. It is commonly used to makesamlor tralach, which is winter gourd and pork soup, or stuffed pork in the gourd.
In Chinese cuisine, the gourds are used in stir fries or combined with pork or pork/beef bones to make winter gourd soup, often served in the scooped out gourd, carved by scraping off the waxy coating. It is also chopped andcandiedaswintermelon candy(dōng guā táng), commonly eaten atNew Year festivals, or as filling forSweetheart cake(lǎopó bǐng). It has also been used as the base filling in Chinese and Taiwanesemooncakesfor the Moon Festival.
InVietnamese cuisine, it is calledbí đao, and is usually used to make soup or stew.When cooked with pork short ribs, the resulting soup is traditionally thought to help produce more milk for breastfeeding mothers.
In thePhilippines, it is candied (referred to plainly askundol) and is used as a pastry filling forhopia. It is also an ingredient in some savory soups (sabaw) and stir-fries (guisado).
In Indian cuisine it is traditionally used to prepare a wide variety of dishes. In northern India it is used to prepare a candy calledpetha. InSouth Indian cuisine, it is traditionally used to make a variety ofcurries, includingsāmbārand a stew (mōr kuḻambu, made with ayogurtbase.The juice of the raw ash gourd (Maipawl or Khar) is used by theMizo communityandindigenous Assamese ethnicitiesof North-East India as a natural remedy to treat mild to severe dysentery. In north India, particularly in the middle Himalayas, it is paired with pulses such asmoongwhich, when crushed, along with winter gourd, make a dish locally calledbori. When dried in sunlight it becomes somewhat hard and is used in curry dishes and eaten with rice orchapati. This practice is especially prevalent in the Himalayas due to the long shelf life of the resulting product.
In western Bihar as well as eastern Uttar Pradesh, it is calledbhathua(भथुआ). In Sri Lanka, it is calledpuhul(පුහුල්) andalu puhul(අළු පුහුල්). In Andhra Pradesh, it is called Boodida Gummadikaya (బూడిద గుమ్మడికాయ) (Telugu). It is used to make stews, stir fries and vadialu. Vadialu are made by chopping the gourd in small pieces and mixing with groundurad beansand spices, then sun-drying. To eat, vadialu are deep fried in oil and eaten as an accompaniment to rice andsambaror lentil stews.
It is known as Kohalaa (कोहळा) in theMarathi language. Kohala is used to prepare a sweet dish called Kohalyachi Vadee, a kind ofBarfi. It is also used to makeSambar.
InGujarat, it is called kolu (કોળુ).
InBengal, it is called "ChaalKumro" (চালকুমড়ো ). There are various dished made with it, viz., ChalKumro’r Bora, Chalkumro ghonto, Chalkumror dudh curry,Chal kumrowith mung dal, etc.
In Odisha it is called (ପାଣି କଖାରୁ), it is used in various types of recipe all over Odisha. It is the main ingredient to prepare a very tasty candy like food (ବଡ଼ି) for curry or as a supplement mainly with watered rice.
InNepal, where it is called Kubhindo, it is cooked as a vegetable when young, but the ripe gourds are usually made into preserves or crystallized candy known as "murabba" or "petha".
Occasionally, it is used to produce a fruit drink with a distinctive taste. It is usually sweetened with caramelized sugar. In Southeast Asia, the drink is marketed as wax gourd tea orwax gourd punch.
Theshoots,tendrils, andleavesof the plant may also be eaten asgreens.
The ash gourd is also used by Hindus as a sacrificial offering in lieu of animal sacrifice. The gourd is marked withvermillionand split in two with a sword.
InKerala, the plant is called കുമ്പളംkumbalamand the fruit is called കുമ്പളങ്ങkumbalangaor കൂശ്മാണ്ടംkooshmandam. It is traditionally used to offer 'Guruthi' (ഗുരുതി) instead of 'Kuruti' (കുരുതി) among MalayaliBrahmins. Thus, instead of offering someone's life in the pyre, an ash gourd is cut into two as a symbolic performance in lieu of human sacrifice.
InKarnataka, the ash gourd is known as Boodu Kumbalakaayi (ಬೂದು ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ) (Kannada) and Boldu Kumbda inTulu, and is used to prepare dishes like Kodel (Sambhar), Ale bajji, Kashi Halwa and chutney.It is widely used during Dasara and other festivities while performingpooje.
Its fruit was often dried as containers to store infused coconut oil amongPolynesians(known asfa(n)guorhue ʻaroro– latter not to be confused with the otherhuegourd).
In summer of 2020, several states across theU.S.reported mysterious, unsolicited packages containing unknown and unidentified seeds of various kinds - the envelopes presented Chinese text in many cases.  At least one person planted one type of these seeds, which grew and was analyzed before state officials destroyed the plant.This proved to beBenincasa hispida.