Marrow is the vegetable everyone likes to grow in UK but, dare I say, it is not so popular as an actual ingredient. If, like me, you see a marrow and run or just don't know what to do with it beyond stuffing it, then this marrow recipe is for you.
My mother-in-law's neighbour kindly gave me a huge marrow from his vegetable patch. Although the initial internal dialogue was what on earth am going to do with it and I'm not keen on it, I was very grateful for the gift and determined to work some magic with it, and this ghutva marrow recipe is the result.

A bit of back story first.
I was an extremely fussy eater as a child. In fact, potatoes were the only vegetables I ate, and I have only started to experiment with vegetables in earnest over the past decade. This was motivated by a decision to try and eat more healthily and focus on a plant based diet with different seasonal vegetables. I very soon discovered that it is not that I didn't like vegetables, I just didn't like the way they were cooked. So, with a little creativity and the addition of textures and flavours I have been able to transform what I saw a boring and tasteless into something to really tickle the taste buds. The experimentation continues. Follow me on this journey in my blog.
Marrow Cooked Indian Style.
Back to the marrow recipe.
There was no way I was going to stuff it or eat it sautéed. My partner is a vegetarian but his heart sinks at the sight of stuffed marrow. I knew I had to cook it with spices to bring life to this bland vegetable and win him over.
So growing up in India, the one recipe that almost every member in my family loves to this day is ghutva baigan. This is roasted aubergine cooked further in spices. Ghutva, means mashed. Ghut means to suffocate, so ghutva means to cook till its like a mash.
In this marrow recipe, it is roasted and cooked in a similar fashion to the ghutva baigan recipe. Roasting the marrow adds so much flavour to the humble marrow. Cooking it further in spices and the masala gives it layers of flavours. It is moreish, smoky and tangy.
Serve this with a simple tidka flat bread.
How-To Video
Here is a video guide to making your Ghutva marrow recipe.
📖 Recipe
Marrow Recipe Notes
You can replace marrow with aubergine. Cooking time may vary.
If you do not wish to roast, you can also boil the marrow. However, roasting adds more flavour.
If you are gluten free, insure that the asafoetida is gluten free. They tend to have gluten. Look for the one made with rice flour
The mustard oil can be replaced with any oil. Mustard oil does add flavour to this recipe, so highly recommend it.
Rachel
Made this but tweaked it a little bit and served it up to friends who said it was one of the best curries they've had. I am renowned for my curry dishes as I do everything from scratch. Apparently this is one of my best yet. Friends recently returned from India having eaten only vegetarian all the week and said it was as good as anything they had eaten there. I will take that. Thanks for the recipe
Chef Tripti
That's amazing! Thank you for your kind comments. What tweaks did you do?
Cara
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I got a marrow in my veg box and wasn’t sure what to do do with it - so glad I found your blog! I made this almost exactly as written and it was absolutely delicious. The only change was I used half the amount of kala namak because I am quite sensitive to sodium and it still tasted great. I will definitely make this again!
Chef Tripti
Thank you Cara! Yes, marrow is an underrated vegetable! It's amazing what some spice can do. This recipe is a family recipe, we make it with aubergine. I was a fussy eater and didn't like aubergine - our neighbour gave us some marrow and this recipe was born!
Valerie Osborne
Really liked this tasty dish thanks
Chef Tripti
Thank you very much