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Monday, September 10, 2012

Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe | Lauki ke Kofte Curry | Step by Step

I love pretty much any kofta-based recipe and lauki kofta has been on my mind for ages now. Although lauki or bottle guard is quite easily available in Singapore, I'd never cooked with lauki (bottle gourd) before this. Since I really love any recipe with chow chow, I was positive this would be a good idea too. Decided to follow Sanjeev Kapoor's lauki kofta recipe as a base since he adds a small dot of tamarind in the middle of his koftas before frying. Interesting idea, eh?

Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe
Since the koftas are deep fried, I kept the gravy relatively simple yet creamy. Let them soak in the gravy for a bit and it tastes every better.

Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe

Also check out Aloo Paneer Koftas | Malai Kofta | Khadi Pakoda


Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from: Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:
For Koftas:
1 medium-sized lauki / doodhi / bottle gourd
4-5 tbsp of besan / gram flour
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
A pinch of hing / asafoetida
8 tiny pieces of tamarind (optional)
1/2 tsp of salt (or to taste)
Oil for deep frying
For Gravy:
2 tbsp of oil (just take a bit from the oil you used to deep fry koftas)
2 of onions, sliced
3 of tomatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tbsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste
4-5 tbsp of plain curd/yogurt

How to Make Lauki Kofta Curry
Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe
For the Koftas:

1. Quarter the lauki and peel it. Remove the seeds inside and grate it fine.
Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe
2. Squeeze out all excess water and add it to a bowl with the chilli powder, salt, besan and hing. Mix well to combine.

3. Make small lemon-sized balls with this mixture and make a small dent in the centre to place the tamarind.

4. Cover it up and make the ball smooth.

5. Fry in hot oil until brown all over. Keep the flame to medium hot and keep turning to cook evenly.

6. Drain and set aside.
Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe
For the Gravy:

7. Heat oil in a pan add add the sliced onions.

8. When they soften and start to brown around the edge, add the turmeric powder, coriander, chilli powder and salt.
Cook until the masala smells nice and is blended well with the onions (about 3 mins).

9. Add the tomatoes and about 1/2 water.

10. Bring to boil and simmer until the tomatoes are soft (about 5-7 mins).

11. Puree this mixture in a blender and return to the pan.

12. Bring to boil, and add the yogurt and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well, adjust salt and remove from fire. Don't boil too long after adding the yogurt otherwise the mixture may split.

Lauki Kofta | Lauki ke Kofte | Bottle Guard Kofta Recipe

Add the koftas into the gravy and let it sit for an hour or so before serving. We had it with rotis but goes equally well with jeera rice or vegetable pulao.

For dinner, we added the gravy to chapatis, rolled them up, and enjoyed in front of the TV watching a favourite movie rerun!

By the way, feedback on the tiled step by step photo is appreciated. I thought it may be easier to scroll through recipes if the steps are more compact. Let me know if this works better or laying out each step picture one after the other.

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