I am growing these vegetables, and am very grateful for the brilliant recipes on this site. Soes anyone know, though, how big they should be when you pick them? At the moment mine are about as big as a pint milk bottle, though a different shape.

Wher i live, they are called 'kodu' or 'hodu' - does anyone else know other anmes for them?

Good for you Sue, they are not easy to grow in cold climate, although they grow easily in winter, in India. There is also a summer variety there, that does not grow here at all. May I ask you where you got your seeds from? Mine is not very prolific!

They should be about a foot long, if they are long variety (they can also be round in shape). See my picture at the bottom of this page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43845926@N00/

In my part of India (North) they are called Lauki.It is also known as Ghia, Doodhi and sometimes as Kaddoo/Kaddu, although Kaddoo is really a word for pumpkin.

Mamta

Thank you so much, that is very helpful. I am very proud that I have been able to grow these, as I live in the centre of England and the weather can be a bit cruel. I used a paintbrush to help fertilise them. A friend of mine gave me the seed, I think he got them in Bangladesh. I'll ask him next week when I see him!

Once again, many thanks.