Lauki Kofta Curry
Bottle gourd, known as lauki (ghiya) in Hindi and Dudhi in Gujarati, is generally not a popular vegetable in every household but it makes one of the best Indian curries – Lauki Kofta Curry in which deep-fried koftas (round shaped deep fried spicy dumplings) made of grated bottle gourd, gram flour, rice flour and ginger-garlic paste are cooked in spicy gravy of tomato and cashew nuts. This step by step photo recipe explains the entire process of how to make lauki kofta and how to make the gravy for it in very detailed manner in addition to various tips and serving ideas that makes cooking easier.
| Ingredients for Kofta: |
| 1½ cups grated Lauki (bottle gourd/ghiya/doodhi) |
| 5 tablespoons Gram Flour |
| 2 tablespoon Rice Flour |
| 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder |
| 1 Green Chilli, finely chopped |
| 1/2 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste |
| 2 tablespoons finely chopped Onion |
| Oil for deep frying |
| Salt to taste |
| For Gravy |
| 2 medium Tomatoes |
| 2 tablespoons Cashew Nuts, soaked in water for 20 minutes |
| 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds |
| 1/2 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste |
| 2 medium Onions, finely chopped |
| 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder |
| 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder |
| 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder |
| 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder |
| 1/4 cup thick Curd (yogurt) (not sour) |
| 3/4 cup Water |
| 2 tablespoons Oil |
| Salt to taste |
Method for Kofta:
- Peel and grate lauki. Squeeze out the water completely and keep that water for making gravy.
- Take squeezed grated lauki in a large bowl. Add gram flour, rice flour, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, finely chopped green chilli, finely chopped onion and salt.
- Mix all ingredients well. Mixture should have a thick consistency to make round shaped balls. If it is watery then add 1-2 teaspoons gram flour and mix. Do not keep this mixture idle for long time since lauki releases water over time and it will make mixture soggy and you will not be able to make kofta balls.
- Grease your palms with oil and divide mixture into 10 to 12 portions. Take each portion and turn it into round shaped balls.
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium flame for deep frying. When oil is medium hot, add 3-4 balls at a time. Stir occasionally and deep-fry until they turn light golden brown and crisp. Take them out using slotted spoon, drain excess oil and place them over kitchen tissue in a plate.
- Blanch the tomatoes and crush them with cashew nuts to make tomato-cashew puree.
- Heat 2-tablespoons oil in saucepan over medium flame. Add cumin seeds and cook until they sizzle, 7-10 seconds. Add ginger-garlic paste and stir-fry for 30-40 seconds. Add chopped onion and stir-fry until it turns light pink in color.
- Add tomato-cashew puree and mix well. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder and salt (add for gravy). Mix well and stir-fry for a minute.
- Add thick curd and mix.
- Stir-fry for a minute.
- Add lauki water (kept in step-2) and 1/2-cup water and cook over medium flame for 3-4 minutes. Stir in between occasionally.
- Add fried kofta balls to the gravy.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes and turn off flame. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.
Tips and Variations:
- Make sure that you deep fry kofta balls on medium flame. If you deep-fry koftas over high flame then they will turn dark brown immediately but remain uncooked inside.
- You can also shallow fry koftas in non-stick aebleskiver pan (appam pan) to reduce usage of oil.
- This recipe prepares chunky gravy due to chopped onions. However, if you prefer to have smooth gravy grind the mixture in step-6.
Taste: Spicy and savory taste with soft dumplings.
Serving Ideas: Serve it with any of your favorite phulka, tandoori roti or butter naan. It is best enjoyed with vegetable pulao, fried jeera rice, ghee rice, peas pulao and so on.