One of my friend gave me this vegetable from his garden and I am trying to figure out the exact name of this vegetable.  After reading online and looking at google images, I am pretty sure this one is the same as bottle gourd.  The biggest challenge for me is to carry it from my car to my house – the reason, it was almost 4.5 feet long.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz piece bottle gourd
• ½ cup dry bread crumbs
• ¼ cup Panko Japanese bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• A little butter or cooking spray

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 450F.
• Split bottle gourd lengthwise and remove the seeds and the middle soft flesh
• Cut each half into about 4-6 strips
• Mix bread crumbs, coconut, and salt together in a shallow dish or plate
• Lightly beat egg and milk
• Dip bottle gourd pieces in egg mixture and roll over the bread crumb
• Place strips on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and bake at 400F for about 25 -30 minutes or bread crumbs are lightly browned
• Serve immediately warm  with hot chili sauce. or hummus