Lauki kofta is a very popular dish in north India. Lauki Kofta Curry or bottle gourd kofta is a tomato based creamy curry which goes well with rice, chapati and parathas. Most of the kids don’t like this vegetable. But kids would love this kofta curry, better way to make them to eat this vegetable. Let’s learn how to make this delicious dish.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 40 minutes
Serves – 6
Ingredients for gravy:
Onion – 1 medium size roughly chopped into pieces
Tomato – 2 medium size cut into pieces
Ginger & garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Cashews/almonds – 10
Chili powder – 1 tsp or as per your taste
Coriander powder – 1 tbs
Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Yogurt (Curd) – 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cloves – 4
Cinnamon – 1/2 inch
Bay leaves – 2
Oil – 3 tbsp
Ingredients for Kofta:
Bottle guard (Lauki) – 1 medium size
Onion – 1/2 medium size chopped into small pieces
Green chilies – 2 chopped into small pieces
Ginger & garlic paste – 1 tsp
Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp finely chopped
Cumin seeds -1 tsp
Baking soda – a pinch
Salt – as per your taste
Oil for frying
Method:
1. Peel the skin of bottle gourd, remove the seeds and grate it in a bowl. Squeeze out all the water from the grated bottle gourd. Keep aside the water. We can use it for making gravy. Add all the ingredients with grated bottle guard ( written under ‘the ingredients for Kofta’ ). Add required salt and mix well.
2. Now make small balls out of the mixture and deep fry it in low flame until golden brown. Keep it aside.
3. Grind onions, tomatoes, ginger & garlic and cashews/almonds in a smooth paste. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, Cloves & bay leaves and fry till nice aroma comes. Now add the ground paste into the pan and cook it on a medium heat. Keep mixing till the mixture gets thicker. Now add coriander, cumin, chili, turmeric & garam masala powders. Keep cooking until the oil leaves the sides of the pan.
4. Now add the bottle guard water, yogurt and 3 cups of water. Beat the yogurt well to avoid forming any lumps before adding it to the gravy. Let the gravy boil for 5 to 7 minutes on a medium heat. Add salt as per your taste.
The mixture has to be more watery. Because when you add the kofta balls, the fried balls would absorb the gravy and gets thicker.
5. After 10 minutes of boiling add the fried kofta balls into the gravy. Let it boil for another few minutes till the kofta balls absorb the gravy and turn off the stove. Before serving garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Delicious lauki/bottle guard Kofta is ready to serve with Rice, Rotis and Parathas. Enjoy!!
