BOTTLE GOURD KOFTA CURRY

 

Bottle gourd/dudhi/lauki  is a vegetable , which  rarely people love to eat . Every time  this vegetable in my lunch box , use to be gifted back to my mom at the end of the day. My mom use always recommend, because of its nutritious value. http://ayurveda-foryou.com/ayurveda_herb/bottle_gourd.html .I liked it only in sweet preparation , dudhi halwa or dudhi kheer. So I tried this recipe of koftas, and to my surprise, I never loved this vegetable so much before. With its rich creamy curry and the tempting koftas swimming in , changed my view for this poor vegetable.

Utensils required

Mixing bowl

Baking try

Wok

 

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

1 medium size bottle gourd (grated)

2 cloves of  garlic (grated)

½  inch of  ginger (grated)

2 green chillis (finely chopped)

½  tsp cumin powder

½  tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

4 tsp besan ( chickpeas flour)

 

For Curry:

1 medium size onion (finely chopped)

1 plum tomato (finely chopped)

½ inch ginger (grated)

3 cloves garlic (grated)

1 tsp garam masala

½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

¼ cup heavy cream

½ cup milk

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

For the koftas :

In a mixing bowl , mix grated bottle gourd with salt , and keep aside for 15 minutes. Now drain all the water from the gourd . This water will be used in the gravy. Now add ginger – garlic paste, chillis, and dry masalas. Add salt and besan and mix well. Make small round balls of the mixture. Pre- heat oven at 300 F for 10 minutes. Grease the baking tray with oil  and bake this koftas in oven till they turn golden brown both the sides . Koftas are ready.

*Traditionally koftas are deep fried. So if you don’t want to bake you can fry them.

For the Gravy :

In a wok , heat oil and sauté ginger- garlic paste. Now add onion. After they turn golden , add tomato. Add bottle gourd juice and cook till it forms gravy. Add all the dry masala and salt. Add heavy cream and milk and bring to a boil. Add the koftas and let them sink in the rich gravy.

Enjoy nutritiously tasty  bottle gourd kofta curry with hot phulkas or rice.