Chokoes are a no-fail veg. Starve them, forget them, and they’ll still give you an autumn filled with so much fruit you’ll be pestering the neighbors to take some and looking up recipes for choko chutney, choko pie, choko and ginger jam (which isn’t bad, actually).
My favourite way of eating chokoes depends on growing your own, so you can pick them young and tiny. Just like baby zucchini are much better than giant marrows, tiny chokoes are far sweeter and crisper than any you’ll find in the supermarket.
How to grow a choko
Buy a choko shove it down the back of the vegie cupboard till it sprouts, then plant it in a sunny spot with the sprouting bit out of the soil. Make sure there is somewhere for the vine to climb – along a fence, up a tree or along the bushes. Pick the chokoes when they are tiny and before the tough seed inside has formed.
Eating baby chokoes
Take a handful of tiny chokoes; peel them but don’t bother to cut out the centre as it won’t be tough yet. Steam or boil them for ten minutes, then dab with butter or toss in light sour cream with lots of chopped parsley or chervil.
Alternatively, sauté with garlic in olive oil; chopped red onion can also be added or a few small chips of fresh ginger. Tiny chokoes stir fried with ginger are very good indeed.
