Today I made a recipe that is very famous all over India. It’s named “Lauki ka Kofta” or “लौकी का कोफ्ता”. Actually, it’s a bottle gourd dumpling recipe that is dipped into a delicious Indian curry.
You may have heard of many types of kofta like Malai kofta, veg kofta, aloo kofta, etc but today’s kofta is a little different. This is Lauki Kofta with curry. Honestly, this is the first time I have heard and made this kofta recipe. But after eating, I realized that I did not know about such a beautiful recipe.
A few things I have to tell you about the curry. Many people make their own little different curry, so you don’t have to afraid about that. These lauki koftas or bottle gourd dumplings are going perfect with all those curries.
If you read my recipe for Paneer Butter Masala, then this curry will be easier for you. You can make as same as like paneer butter masala type of gravy, also you can be made a little change. Look at my recipe and video, you will better understand.
Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe with Step by Step Image
- The first thing we need to make this recipe is a bottle gourd. It will be best if you can arrange a young bottle gourd or buy it from the market.
- Now peel the whole skin of the bottle gourd or lauki with a peeling machine.
- With the help of a knife, cut the ‘lauki’ in half or you can cut it at your convenience. Then grate this well with a hand grater.
- Now gather the grated bottle gourd in a bowl or dish.
- Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of salt on the grated bottle gourd and leave it for rest at least 30 minutes. Salt will help to capture the shape of the grated bottle gourd and texture will remain the same.
- After 30 minutes you can see the grated lauki released water. So squeezed the water and gather the lauki into a mixing bowl.
- Keep the squeezed water aside for later. This water has the protein of lauki, so we can use this water for making gravy.
- Add salt (if required), asafoetida, and red chili powder. You can also use Kashmiri red chili powder if you do not like chili powder.
- Add chopped green chili along with turmeric powder, chopped coriander leaves, and soaked yellow lentil. this yellow lentil is totally optional, but I used it for a nice texture.
- Now add 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste and start mixing them with a spoon or with your hand.
- Mix well.
- After that add 2 tbsp of yogurt. This will add a little sourness which goes very well with this kofta. I noticed many people add tomato ketchup, but I think it’s totally your choice.
- Now add 2-3 tbsp of roasted gram flour. This is compulsory to give a nice bounding in this kofta. You can also use a little cornflour with it, but I like only gram flour (roasted gram flour).
- Also, add 1/4 tsp of baking soda. It will help to cook your kofta nicely from inside.
- Now mix everything well and make a nice batter or mixture whatever you say.
- Now heat a frying pan with enough water. I prefer shallow frying. But you can deep-fry them.
- When the oil is heated, turn the heat into the medium. Make small size balls (no need for prominent shape) with the help of your hands.
- Put one by one into the oil and start frying. If the oil is overheated, the balls will be fried from outside only and you get a raw portion from inside. So, always fry in medium heat.
- When the balls turn golden brown, put them off from the pan and keep in a separate place.
- Now heat a frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Refined oil is best.
- Add a pinch of asafoetida. It will enhance the taste of this gravy.
- Add 1/3 tsp of cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start crackling, add whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and clove and fry for a little.
- When you get a nice aroma, add chopped onion and start frying.
- Add chopped green chili along with 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste.
- Thereafter add 2 medium sizes chopped tomato. You can also use tomato puree if you want.
- Now add powdered spices like salt (1 pinch), turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and 2 tbsp of gram flour.
- Mix them well and continue to saute in medium heat.
- You can see when the cooking is done, the mixture release oil from the side.
- Now add that previously-stored squeezed water for gravy.
- That’s mean we used a whole bottle gourd. Nothing will be wasted and full protein has existed.
- After adding the bottle gourd squeeze water, start mixing well. Then you will get a nice orange colored gravy.
- Add a little sugar to balance the taste. No need to add any salt now, because that water has already a lot of salt. But I suggest to taste it once if you think a little salt is required.
- Then smear that gravy for a few minutes until that gravy comes to boil.
- Now add those fried kofta or dumplings into the gravy.
- Also, add 1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves to enhance the freshness.
- Stir them gently or the kofta may break.
- Cook them for 5 minutes more and turn off the heat. Your Lauki kofta curry or bottle gourd dumplings curry is ready to serve.
Q. What can be served with Lauki ka Kofta or Bottle gourd dumplings?
A. Paratha (Fried Indian flatbread made with refined flour) is one of the best options I like it very much. Also, you can serve with regular flatbread or rice.
Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe | Bottle Gourd Dumplings Curry
Ingredients
For making Kofta
- 2 cup Bottle Gourd or Lauki grated
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida or Hing
- ⅓ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- ½ tsp Green Chilli chopped
- ⅓ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves
- ½ tbsp Small Yellow Lentils or Moong Dal soaked
- ½ tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tbsp Yogurt
- 3 tbsp Gram Flour
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tbsp Sugar optional
- 500 grams Refined oil for frying kofta balls
For Making Curry
- 2 tbsp Refined oil
- 1 pinch Asafoetida or Hing
- ⅓ tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 inch Cinamon Stick
- 2 nos. Green Cardamom
- 2 nos. Clove
- ½ cup Onion chopped
- 2 nos. Green Chilli chopped
- ½ tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
- 2 nos. Tomato medium size (chopped)
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1½ tbsp Gram Flour
- ½ tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
Make Kofta
- At first, take a bottle gourd and peel the skin.
- Then take a hand grater and grate it nicely.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt and rest it for at least 30 minutes. You can see the bottle gourd release water.
- Now squeeze the water and take them into a separate bowl. Keep the squeezed water aside for later.
- After that add all dry spices like salt (optional), asafoetida, red chili powder, green chili, turmeric powder, finely chopped coriander leaves, roasted gram flour along with soaked small yellow lentils, ginger-garlic paste, and yogurt.
- Mix them well and make a smooth mixture.
- Heat a frying pan with enough oil. Now your choice is what kind of fry you need. I like shallow frying but you can also fry these deep.
- Now make small balls with your hands and put them in oil one by one.
- Keep frying them until the skin turns golden brown. Do not keep the heat into high, because medium flame helps to fry them well from inside.
- Thereafter keep them out from the pan and gather on tissue paper to soak excess oil from it.
Making Curry
- Now heat another frying pan with 2 tbsp of refined oil.
- Temper with 1 pinch of asafoetida and cumin seeds.
- When the cumin seeds start crackling, add cinnamon, clove, and cardamom and fry a little.
- Then add 1 cup of chopped onion and fry a little.
- Also, add chopped green chili along with 1/2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste.
- Now add 2 medium sizes chopped tomato. You can also add 1/2 ts of salt to speed up the saute process.
- Thereafter add all the dry spices like turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, roasted gram flour, and saute well.
- Continue the saute process in medium heat until the mixture release oil.
- Now add that bottle gourd squeezed water for gravy. Also, add 1/2 tbsp of sugar to balance the taste.
- Then add the fried koftas along with 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves.
- Mixed them gently.
- Smear for about 5 minutes with cover a lid.
- Your Lauki Kofta Curry is ready to serve.
Video
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Some FAQ about LAUKI ka Kofta
Q. Can lauki ka kofta be cooked in the morning and eaten at night?
A. Yes, of course. There is no problem with cooking in the morning and eating at night. But it is noticeable in which season you are doing this. If it is winter, it is usually enough to leave it. In winter, food cooked in the morning can be easily reheated at night.
However, in summer I would recommend storing it in the fridge.
Q. What is the substitute for yogurt in LAUKI kofta gravy?
A. Trust me, yogurt is not mandatory for lauki kofta gravy. We just use it for more richness. If you like to increase the richness of the gravy, add fresh cream instead.
Q. Can you store LAUKI kofta in the fridge for 2-3 days?
A. Yes, you can store it. But you may have to follow a few things. First, prepare the kofta and gravy separately and keep them separate. Add a little Ajinomoto or MSG to this recipe. MSG helps to keep your food fresh for a while.
Follow this process, you can keep your lauki ka kofta in the fridge for 2-3 days easily. Before serve just keep them out from the fridge and let them rest to come to room temperature. Heat a pan, add them together, give a little boil, and serve hot.
Q. How to soften LAUKI kofta I have prepared the kofte but it’s very hard is there any way to soften it?
A. First of all, do not make the dough very tight. If your dough becomes very tight unintentionally, just add a little yogurt, and oil into the batter. Very tight dough may be caused for very hard koftas.
There is also another trick. Add a little more baking soda into the mixture. This will help to make your kofta balls soft and the size will be bigger.
[* These tricks are applicable for any type of kofta.]
Q. What to do if LAUKI kofta is not taking shape properly?
A. If your kofta doesn’t shape properly, you’ve probably added too many wet things. In that case, I would suggest only one, add a little bit of gram flour, you will see that your mixture has become thicker. Now you can give the right round shape with the help of your hands.
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