Tastes Like Home: Cooking with Watermelon

Sunvantee Ursekar

Mumbai, India

Summer vacation means a bounty of fruits!

Of course, we must have the King of Fruits, the Mango, but along with it come jamun, jaam, muskmelons, chickoos, and watermelons!

In my childhood, watermelon carts used to mark the arrival of summers. A bullock cart would stand on the bazaar road, piled high with small and large dark green watermelons. The fruit seller would tap two or three of them and pick one. He’d ask if he should cut it to show the inside, but Mother would always say no. Then, we’d carry that heavy bag all the way home. Back then, we didn't even have a fridge. So, the watermelon would be submerged in a drum or a large bucket of water overnight, and we’d cut and eat it the next day. Ah! The joy of eating those bright red, crescent-shaped slices was something else entirely!

Now that I’ve grown up and become a homemaker, my love for watermelon remains the same—the only difference is that with a fridge, I can now enjoy the instant pleasure of chilling the slices before eating.

Recently, since I started processing wet waste at home to make compost, I noticed that the volume of the white rinds is almost equal to the fruit we eat! The waste basket fills up so quickly. I wondered, can something be done with this?

Then, I came across an article by the 20th-century scientist Dr. Kamala Sohonie, stating that this white part is edible and shouldn't be thrown away.

I checked the internet and asked my friends as well. I learned a few recipes—like grating the rind to add to dosa batter or mixing it with semolina to make dhirde. I tried them, but they were time-consuming. I wanted something quick, something that could fit into daily cooking.

So, after some thought, I experimented with three types of preparations:

1. The Simple Peanut Version

Cut the white part of the rind into roughly half-inch cubes. Prepare a tempering of ghee, cumin seeds, and green chilies (just like we do for fasting recipes). Add the pieces, sauté a little, add enough water to submerge them, and let them cook covered. The white color of the pieces turns semi-transparent. Then, add crushed roasted peanuts (daanyacha koot), salt to taste, and cook for a bit longer. Adjust the water and peanut powder according to how thick or thin you want the gravy. Garnish with coriander. This curry tastes great with both rice and poli.

2. The Stir-Fry Version

Slice the rind into thin strips (like potato kachrya). Prepare a tempering of oil with asafoetida (hing), mustard seeds, and turmeric. Add the rind, sauté, and cook covered. Add red chili powder and salt to taste and stir. Finish with a generous garnish of fresh grated coconut and coriander. It goes wonderfully with hot polis. Since watermelon rinds have high water content, the quantity reduces significantly after cooking.

3. The Coconut-Base Version

Cut into square pieces as in the first recipe. Put them in a pan with enough water to submerge and let them cook. For about 2-3 cups of rind pieces, grind at least half a cup of fresh grated coconut (more is fine), 1 teaspoon of rice, one green chili, a one-inch piece of ginger, and 5-6 curry leaves into a very fine paste with a little water. By the time the paste is ready, the pieces are usually cooked. Add this paste to the pan and stir. Add salt to taste. Adjust the consistency with water and let everything simmer together. Prepare a separate tempering in a small ladle using coconut oil, mustard seeds, hing, dry red chilies, and more curry leaves if you like. Pour this over the cooked curry and take it off the heat. Garnish with coriander. This curry is delicious with both rice and poli.

Currently, there are only two of us at home, both over sixty. So, when we brought a watermelon home last week, all three preparations found their way to our table!

This English translation has been written with the assistance of AI tools. To read the original article, please click here.