Suraikai (Lagenaria siceraria)

Suraikkai, lauki or ghiya in Hindi, is bottle gourd, one of the oldest cultivated plants, eaten young as a vegetable and dried into vessels and instruments. Its dried shells form the resonators of the veena and sitar. Archaeologists have found bottle gourd rinds about ten thousand years old in the Americas, probably descended from gourds that drifted from Africa. Bitter bottle gourd juice has caused serious poisoning in India.

Botanical name: Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Tamil: Suraikai
Hindi: Lauki
Sanskrit: Alābu
Parts used: Young fruit as food, Dry shell as a vessel
Habit: Bottle gourd vine; green fruit is food, the dried shell a vessel
Last updated: 2026-10-27

How to recognise Suraikai

It is a vigorous climbing vine with soft-hairy stems, branched tendrils and a musky smell.

The leaves are large, rounded and softly hairy.

Large, white, crinkled flowers open in the evening.

The fruits vary from long cylinders to bottle and round shapes, pale green and smooth when young.

Dry mature fruits have a hard, woody shell.

Traditional use of Suraikai

Kitchen

Lauki is cooked into sabzi, kofta, chana dal and halwa across North India, and suraikkai into kootu in Tamil Nadu.

Indian food practice

Craft

Dried gourds form the resonating bodies of the veena, sitar and tanpura.

Indian instrument-making practice

Household

Dried shells were used as water bottles, ladles and floats.

Traditional household practice worldwide

Modern notes on Suraikai

Bitter bottle gourd contains cucurbitacins; drinking its juice has caused severe vomiting, bleeding and deaths in India.

After deaths from bitter bottle gourd juice in 2010, a government expert committee advised tasting a small piece before juicing and discarding any bitter gourd.

Ordinary bottle gourd is low in calories and supplies fibre and vitamin C.

Suraikai safety

Always taste a small raw piece before cooking or juicing, and throw away any gourd that is bitter. Do not mix gourd juices.

Ecology and sourcing

It is native to Africa.

Hawkmoths pollinate the evening flowers.

Its floating fruits may have spread across oceans naturally.

Related plants

Also in Cucurbitaceae

Questions about Suraikai

Can bottle gourd be poisonous?

Bitter fruits can be. Taste before using.

Is lauki the same as suraikkai?

Yes.

What instruments use Suraikai?

The veena, sitar and tanpura.

When do the flowers of Suraikai open?

In the evening.

Where did Suraikai come from?

Africa.

Sources

Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.