Lauki Kofta curry

Usually this vegetable was not brought home in my childhood. After I came here because of the less options we've, AmAr generally bought Lauki quite often. I ended up making the regular palya or sabji. He likes it very much. I don't like it so much & always find a reason not to cook it :) This time, I really wanted to try something new & not serve the same old boring palya. I looked for the options I'd. Kofta curry was shown on youtube by Anuja & Hetal. Their recipe impressed me because they din't fry the koftas the usual way, but let them cook in the gravy. I'll post later if this really was a good idea or not.

Ok, we did like it. Next time I would try frying the Koftas. Then probably I've have a comparison.

Another entry for Easy Craft's Side dish event.

Ingredients: -

Lauki, peeled & grated (They say 4 cups, mine came upto around 1 cup after removing water)

3/4 cup besan

1 big onion, finely chopped (1/2 of it used for the gravy & the other 1/2 for the koftas)

2-3 tomatoes, finely chopped

2-3 green chilies, finely chopped

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp jeera powder

1 tsp dhania powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp amchur

1 tsp red chili powder

1/4 cup curds

coriander leaves, finely chopped

Salt

Method:-

1. To the grated lauki, sprinkle little salt & keep aside. Set aside till the gravy is ready.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan add 2 tbsp of oil & heat.

3. Prepare the gravy by adding onions. Saute them for a minute or two, till they start sweating. Add little salt to fasten the process as they say.

4. Add in ginger-garlic paste & mix well.

5. Add all the dry powders (turmeric powder, garam masala, jeera powder, amchur, red chili powder, dhania powder) & give the mixture a good stir.

6. Add the tomatoes & let it cook till they become tender on medium flame. Close the pan.

7. Add water & check the consistency. Allow the gravy to boil on low flame. They say boiling is important else the koftas will break when they cook in them later.

8. Prepare the koftas in the meanwhile. Squeeze well to remove water from the grated lauki.

9. Add besan to it accordingly. Besan acts as the binding agent.

10. Add onions, green chilies, red chili powder, amchur, garam masala, jeera powder, dhania powder & coriander leaves & mix well.

11. Add salt at the end, just before adding the lauki into the gravy.

12. Check to see if the gravy is boiling. Make balls/koftas out of the lauki & masala mixture & drop them into the gravy. Make sure they immerse well.

13. Cook on medium flame for about 5-10 minutes till the koftas are soft.

14. Garnish with coriander & serve hot with any bread or rice.