Scarlet Gourd
Coccinia grandis: Cucumber’s Versatile Kin
I was riding my motorcycle one day when I rumbled over a raised railroad track in an industrial area and to my immediate right above a greenery-covered security fence I caught a glimpse of what I thought looked like Turk’s Cap blossoms, but not quite. Turk’s Caps is a bushy mallow that doesn’t grow too tall and I had to look up to see these “blossoms.”
I turned around, parked, and wandered over for a closer inspection while a few workers wondered why a motorcyclist was looking at a plant. The blossoms were not Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus penduliflorus, which tend to stay closed taking the shape of a seashell called an Olive. No, these weren’t even blossoms. They were red fruit, ovoid to ellipsoid, about two inches long, 3/4 an inch wide through the middle. I had never seen them before. Nearby were several green ones with white stripes end to end. The large blossoms were five petaled and white. The key, however, was the vine. It looked like a cucumber.
It took some digging but I found it, Coccinia grandis. There was no doubt I had the right plant. As is too often the case, the United States Department of Agriculture maps said it did not grow here… That further confirmed to me I had the right plant. (If you have studied USDA maps you know exactly what I mean. They are inaccurate and woefully out of date.)
Called Ivy Gourd, Scarlet Gourd, Thai spinach, Kovai, Tindora (and a host of other names) the young leaves and slender tops of the stems are cooked and eaten as a potherb, in soups, or as a side dish, often with rice. The young and tender green fruits are eaten raw in salads, or boiled, steamed, fried, added to dishes like curry or soups or even fermented. The ripe, scarlet fruit is fleshy, on the sweet side, and eaten raw. It can also be candied. The fruit is often available in speciality markets and is very common in India. There are two varieties, both bitter and sweet (with no visible differences) and several cultivars both bitter and sweet. A second species, C. quinqueloba, has leaves that are edible cooked, often with Bidens pilosa, an old standby for foragers. The fruits of the Coccinia rehmannii are edible and its starchy tuber is eaten after roasting. The leaves of Coccinia trilobata are a famine food. With the bitter ones usually only the young leaves and tips are used.
The green fruit of the C. grandis resembles a small, smooth pointed cucumber or long little watermelon. It is packed with seeds inside and while the skin is not tough but has just a little more resistant than a cucumber. The fruit grows red from the inside out. It is possible to have it reddish on the inside and not yet red on the outside. When green it is ever so slightly sour very much like a Melothria pendula, another wild member of the cucumber clan. When fully ripe it gets very soft.
Said kok-SIN-ee-uh GRAN-dees, (Big Red) the plant in the lab has shown anti-oxidant, anti-triglyceride, and anti-bacterial activity and is useful in the treatment of jaundice. It’s also been used to treat abscesses and high blood pressure. C. grandis has been introduced as a food crop in several countries in Asia, as well as Australia, Pacific Islands, Africa, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. It is found in at least Florida, Texas and Hawaii and probably other unreported warm areas.
Ripe Ivy Gourd is high in beta-carotene, has vitamins A and C, but low on the glycemic index. Per 100 g edible portion, the fruits contain: water 93.5 g, energy 75 kJ (18 kcal), protein 1.2 g, fat 0.1 g, carbohydrate 3.1 g, fiber 1.6 g, Ca 40 mg, P 30 mg, Fe 1.4 mg, thiamine 0.07mg, riboflavin 0.08 mg, niacin 0.7 mg, ascorbic acid 1.4 mg. See recipe on bottom and my video.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
IDENTIFICATION: C. grandis: Stems mostly hairless, green and longitudinally ribbed when young, becoming white-spotted when older and eventually woody, tendrils simple, in the axils. Leaves alternate, simple, broad, ovate, 5-lobed, heart-shaped, stem has 3-8 glands near the base; inflorescence usually solitary, axillary flowers. Corolla deeply divided into 5 lobes. Stamens 3, present as staminodes in female flowers. Fruit a smooth, striped green turning bright red, ovoid to ellipsoid about two inches long.
TIME OF YEAR: Can produce year round
ENVIRONMENT: Agricultural areas, natural forests, planted forests, disturbed and waste areas.
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Young leaves and slender tops of the stems are cooked and eaten as a potherb, in soups, or as a side dish, often with rice. The young and tender green fruits are eaten raw in salads, or boiled, steamed, fried, added to dishes like curry or soups or even fermented. The ripe, scarlet fruit, is fleshy, on the sweet side, and eaten raw. It can also be candied
Recipe courtesy of Show Me The Curry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULMWk9XhURU
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: Approx 20-25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Tindora – approx 1 1/2 lbs, sliced
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Asofoetida (Hing) – pinch
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Method:
1. Heat Oil in a medium non-stick pan on medium heat.
2. Add Mustard Seeds and allow them to pop.
3. Add Cumin Seeds and let them sizzle.
4. Add Asofoetida, Turmeric Powder, Green Chilies and Tindora. Mix well.
5. Add Salt, Red Chili Powder, Coriander Powder and Cumin Powder.
6. Mix well, cover and cook until Tindora are tender. Stir every few minutes to cook evenly and prevent burning.
7. When Tindora are tender, uncover and cook for an additional few minutes to lightly brown them.
Tips:
1. In a time crunch, use the slicer blade of your food processor to roughly chop/slice the Tindora.
2. Cleaned and cut Tindora freeze well.
3. Be careful when salting Tindora. They tend to shrink and become a little salty and tangy.
Hi
I live in Sydney, Australia. Is any way to get tindora root to grow in my garden? I am willing to pay for cost of the root + shipping.
I will be delighted to hear from you.
Cheers, Bana
Hi,
I found the plants in one of the street markets in Perth. I just bought it and cant wait till it grows and start producing Tindora
I found this tasty treat growing near a fence in my backyard this weekend! I am in very southern Hillsborough County, Florida. Love your website!
Do you have their seeds? I’d love to have them grown in my back yard.
No, I do not. However, I have sent your request to a friend who does.
Could you forward the request for seed for myself onto your friend also?
Usually the plant is propagated via roots or cuttings.
I have looked high and low for tindora cuttings. Do you know where I might find some? I am in Ocala Florida. Thanks a lot.
I can get you stems to propagate if you can pay for it and I can send you photos of tindora in my farm,if you cater for shipment and stem cost I can send you Patrick in kenya
I bought a pound or so of tindora at the Indian market near me after having some in a delicious curry at an Indian vegetarian restaurant I like. I’m a good cook, but I don’t have any experience with Indian cooking to speak of. Impressed by its resemblance to a cucumber or zucchini, I decided to make it like an Italian vegetable. I quartered the tindora and sauteed it till slightly browned with a sweet onion, some garlic, and some red chile flakes. I added a can of Italian cherry tomatoes, oregano, thyme, and sea salt, and simmered everything together for about ten minutes. Then I served it in a pasta bowl with some grated Romano cheese on top. The tindora was just the consistency of perfectly cooked Italian green beans. The dish was delicious. I could have had it with pasta. I do eat meat, but I wouldn’t cook the tindora with it as its delicate flavor would be completely overwhelmed.
I stumbled upon a similar plant in my back yard. It looks like Coccinia indica but is small and round like marbles ( the fruit ). Took a bite it tasted like the fruit you mentioned above. I think it belongs to the same family but a different genus. Could you help me identify it ? Thanks.
You can post a picture on the Green Deane forum.
Coccinea indica plant has two different variants – bitter tasting fruit type which is only used as medicine (according to Ayurveda) and is found growing wild in many countries including the US ,and the sweet variety called Tindora, fruits of which are also used in different food preparations. They are very popular in South Asian countries.
Please visit our website. We are already exporting tissue cultured plants of the edible variety and looking for people who would be interested to stock and sell for us.
Cheers for good health benefits from the tindora plant!
hye…i’m interested in having tindora at my place in my garden…
plz advise
Looking for a tindora plant. Do you sell any. Please let me know
Hi. I would love to visit your website so as to get some tindora, but did not see the address. Thanks for getting back to me. Blessings.
It does not have a physical address. Wheere do you live?
Do you know how I can get female Coccinia grandis cutting. Thanks for all the great information.
please let me know where I can buy the plant or root stock
Ask Andy Firk on facebook (Arcadia Florida.)
I love this vegetable a lot. Can I get a plant of this? I live in austin, tx.
I think Andy Firk in Arcadia sells them. You can find him on facebook.
Where and how can obtain product in London or Kent UK?
he’s on facebook.
according to Dakasa, the bitter one is only used for medicine? Can I use it as food? How about it’s leaves? I got billions of them in my yard in southern Taiwan. I hope I could use them as food
i found the same plant here in the philippines, we’re not familiar with it… could you help me or even give me some suggestions on what science investigatory could i make out of this kind of plant… yearly we joined science fair and i’ve got interested with this plant for it is very rare here in the country….
Is this plant bad for Hypoglycemics?
maybe you are thinking of bitter melon gourd? It is used to lower blood sugar by many. There is an excellent article on it on this site. It would be bad to eat if you tended to hypoglycemia.
Where can I find seeds or plants online/stores?
I live in Massachusetts (Don’t think there is a problem of this plant invading when winter comes here ;-))
Coming through So. CA the Salton Sea area … Found a farmer growing several different fruits & vegetables … This particular he told me it was Tandora & that it was indigenous to India … possibly he meant Tindera … Looking at the image above … it definitely had this red mature fruit, was approx. 1+” & green spotted cucumber looking like fruit …
Since I am a freelance photographer specializing in Agriculture … I sure could use the correct identification of this crop … Thank You … inga s.
Hi, I can’t find reliable information on whether or not this plant is illegal to grow here in Florida. Can you help?
It is on the invasive species list but I think that is excessive.
I am 104 years old world record holder in athletics. You can meet me on Google by entering my name. I have bitter variety in my kitchen garden. Can I use it as vegetable for good health.
Yes, it is edible cooked. But bitter.
so how can i mitigate that bitter taste of that curry? is there any special recipes to remove that bitterness from that vegetable? I want to use it because it’s available in my garden.
Try boiling it in salty water, then rinse and drain before using it in your recipe. Also adding soy sauce to the finished recipe can help mitigate bitterness. This goes for all bitter veggies and greens.
I look forward to learning from you. There are no local experts, at least not close enough to do me any good. I rely on people like you and plant identification apps on my smartphone. Can you recommend a high quality app. for this?
Hello Mr Green Dean,
I see many wild Ivy Gourds in my garden.People around me say it’s not edible and is poisonous.
Confirm the identification.