Cooking in season is nothing new for people in Pakistan. Instead, it’s a way of life.
Now, that’s not to say that the fast food giants and processed foods aren’t creeping into the Pakistani diet at an alarming rate. They are but for the most part, most families still are preparing meals using what’s being harvested within 100 miles of their home.
On a recent trip to Pakistan I watched my mother-in-law Fazeelat carefully carving out the inside of what is called a tinda squash here in Lahore. A tinda squash is actually a small, green gourd that’s in season in May and June. They look somewhat like a green apple, with soft fuzzy hairs on the green rind and white flesh inside. They grow on four to five foot vines and are ready for harvest in 70 days. They are also called Indian round gourds, apple gourds or Indian baby pumpkins.