Like all plants, the कद्दू starts out with a seed. The seed consists of a shiny green skin, covered with a tough, white shell. It can be eaten as a snack. The seed sprouts and generates a fuzzy stem, tiny coils called tendrils, heart-shaped leaves, and yellow, star-shaped flowers. The leaves and फूल are also edible. The leaves can be eaten in soups and curries, while the फूल may be eaten fried as an appetizer. Small green fruits grow under the flowers. As they mature, they grow and turn into big, नारंगी, ऑरेंज pumpkins and the फूल shrink and disappear. The mature फल is ready to eat in many different ways, या in other words, versatile. It can be eaten in soups, pies, या roasted. It is, again, filled with seeds, and it starts all over again.