Hi, I'm new to eGullet but looking at the former posts I believe I arrived to the right place Walking in a market, where there is a large Indian community, I came across an old guy selling strange looking pods or pulses. He asked me if I was Hindi speaking and when I answered negatively he smiled (with only a few teeth... ) and said that this was like "indian okra" and muttered something like "ChaPAnga" (with an accent on the PA sylable). These are 5-6 inch pods, green with some reddish lines. They are hard, not as soft as other pods I know. He told me to trim the ends, peel and cook them. This is what I'm going to do, but I wanted to know if anyone has a clue what these are, what are they called and what's the best use for them (otherwise it's tomato sauce with spices...) Thanks, Zucchini