Glasgow restaurant celebrates National Vegetarian Week with ancient Indian vegetables

GLASGOW’S first ever North Indian restaurant is showcasing some unusual vegetables to celebrate National Vegetarian Week this week. 

And they’ll be offering customers a very special four course Veggie menu using some ancient Indian vegetables.

The Dhabba in Candleriggs want to highlight eating healthy and show customers the benefits of a meat free diet so they’ve quite literally dug up some vegetables that are indigenous to India and have been used in its cuisine for thousands of years.

Arvi / Arbi

Also known as the taro root or eddoe is the root of a tropical plant commonly known as taro. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants with evidence of its cultivation from over 7000 years ago. It is thought to be native to India and Southeast Asia, but has now spread to many parts of the world. Different parts of the Taro plant are used in the cuisines of different regions of India.

Turai

It is known in English by different names like Angled Luffa, Dish Cloth Gourd, Ridged Gourd, Strainer Vine, Ribbed Loofah, Sinkwa Towelsponge among others. It is a vegetable slightly resembles a cucumber or zucchini with ridges. It ranges from central and eastern Asia to southeastern Asia.

Parwal

Known as a pointed gourd or green potato, it is a vine plant similar to cucumber and squash. It is widely cultivated in the eastern and northern parts of India. It is a good source of vitamins and minerals and in addition to its culinary uses, it is used to make several Indian Auryedic medicines.

Lauki

Commonly known as calabash, it is a vine grown for its fruit, which is harvested young to be consumed as a vegetable. When allowed to mature the vegetable can bu used as a utensil. This plant was one of the world’s first cultivated plants grown not primarily for food, but for use as containers. It is found all over the world and is thought to have spread by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd.

Chichinda

Due to its shape it is called a snake gourd. It has been known to grow to lengths of 1.5 metres. It It is popular in the cuisines of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most healthiest vegetables and has great medicinal properties and has been known to lessen the effects of diabetes, and extremely effective stress and pain relief for the heart.

Gawar ki Phali

This is a legume commonly known as a guar or cluster bean. Its is not known where this bean originated from since it has never been found in the wild, however 80% of the worlds production is from the Indian sub continent.

Owner Navdeep Basi said: “We wanted to celebrate National Vegetarian week with something a bit different. Our chefs have sourced some of the more unusual Indian vegetables and will be preparing a four course vegetarian meal for customers who want to sample something a little more unusual. The Dhabba four course vegetarian menu is only available from the 14th till the 20th of May.