How to make Lauki Kofta Curry -

Fried bottle gourd dumplings cooked in a flavourful gravy.

Sanjeev Kapoor

This recipe is from FoodFood TV channel & has featured on Sanjeev Kapoor Kitchen.

Main Ingredients : Bottle gourd (lauki / doodhi), Cottage cheese (paneer) (पनीर)

Cuisine : Punjabi

Course : Main Course Vegetarian


Lauki Kofta Curry

Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe Card

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Punjabi food is wholesome and full of rustic flavour. The custom of cooking in community ovens or tandoors prevails in rural pockets even today. The cuisine is characterised by a profusion of dairy products in the form of malai, paneer and dahi. The dals are a speciality of this type of cuisine, made of whole pulses like black gram, green gram and Bengal gram.  They are cooked on slow fire, often simmered for hours till they turn creamy and then flavoured with spices and rounded off with malai for that rich finish. The food is simply delicious.
The most unique thing about cooking in a tandoor is the smoky flavour that the food gets making it tastier. Moreover it is a healthy way of cooking since minimum fat is required and the food generally gets cooked in its own juices thus retaining its natural flavours. Besides it is not only easy to digest, it is also very hygienic.  In conclusion one can safely say that it is through tandoori cooking that Indian cuisine first got globally acknowledged.

Prep Time : 16-20 minutes

Cook time : 31-40 minutes

Serve : 4

Level Of Cooking : Moderate

Taste : Spicy

Ingredients for Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe

  • Bottle gourd (lauki / doodhi) grated 1 cup

  • Cottage cheese (paneer) grated 2 cups

  • Raw banana boiled, peeled and grated 1

  • Green chillies finely chopped 2

  • Carom seeds (ajwain) 1/2 teaspoons

  • Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon

  • Salt to taste

  • Gram flour (besan) 4 tablespoons

  • Oil 2 tablespoons + for deep-frying

  • Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

  • Tomato puree 1 cup

  • Broken cashewnuts soaked 2 tablespoons

  • Poppy seeds (khuskhus) soaked 1 tablespoon

  • Melon seeds (magaz) soaked 1 tablespoon

  • Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon

  • Garam masala powder 1 teaspoon

  • Green capsicum strips for garnishing

Method

Step 1

Place bottle gourd in a muslin cloth, tie into a bundle and squeeze out excess moisture. Transfer the bottle gourd into a bowl.

Step 2

Add cottage cheese, raw banana, green chillies, carom seeds, ½ tsp red chilli powder, salt and 3 tbsps gram flour and mix well.

Step 3

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.

Step 4

Divide the bottle gourd mixture into equal portions and shape them into medium sized balls or koftas. Gently slide them into hot oil and deep-fry koftas till golden. Drain on absorbent paper.

Step 5

Heat 2 tbsps oil in a non-stick pan. Add cumin seeds and remaining gram flour and sauté for 2 minutes.

Step 6

Add ½ cup water and mix. Add tomato puree and mix well. Add another ½ cup water, mix and cook till the gravy thickens.

Step 7

Place cashewnuts, poppy seeds and melon seeds in a blender jar and blend into a thick smooth paste with little water.

Step 8

Add the paste to the gravy and mix well. Add turmeric powder, remaining red chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt and mix well.

Step 9

Add 1 cup water, mix and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Step 10

Add koftas and mix lightly. Cook for a minute.

Step 11

Transfer into a serving bowl and serve hot garnished with capsicum strips.

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MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine. He is Chef extraordinaire, runs a successful TV Channel FoodFood, hosted Khana Khazana cookery show on television for more than 17 years, author of 150+ best selling cookbooks, restaurateur and winner of several culinary awards. He is living his dream of making Indian cuisine the number one in the world and empowering women through power of cooking to become self sufficient. His recipe portal www.sanjeevkapoor.com is a complete cookery manual with a compendium of more than 10,000 tried & tested recipes, videos, articles, tips & trivia and a wealth of information on the art and craft of cooking in both English and Hindi.