Lauki kofta recipe. Lauki kofta is a delicious light tomato-based sauce dipped in gourd-based koftas (lauki or ghia or dudhi).
The first time I heard about it and also had lauki ke kofte at my in-laws. I had never heard or known that a curry is made from gourd koftas. I knew Malai kofta, Cabbage kofta, Aloo kofta, Veg kofta but not this one.
Lauki / ghia also known as gourd or opo squash is used to make fried dumplings and then added to a hot sauce made from tomatoes. The whole curry is slightly spicy and has a good flavor and a slight flavor due to the tomatoes. The koftas as well as the curry taste really delicious.
My first impression of the curry was – the koftas were yum… They just melted in your mouth. But the curry base tasted like tomato rasam to me… Without exaggerating. This is how I really felt when I ate lauki kofta curry for the first time. It was like tomato rasam koftas. Nonetheless, I enjoyed having it because I’m a rasam fan.
Since the millet does not add anything to the curry paste which is mainly tomatoes and onions, ginger, garlic, etc.
Also Read: Methi Matar Malai
Ingredients
To make kofta
▢ 2 cups grated lauki (gourd or opo or dudhi squash)
▢ 3.5 to 4 tablespoons of besan (gram flour)
▢ ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
▢ ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
▢ 1 green pepper (hari mirch) – finely chopped
▢ salt as needed
▢ oil for deep or shallow frying of koftas
To make masala paste
▢ 2 large tomatoes – roughly chopped
▢ 1 medium onion – coarsely chopped
▢ 1 green pepper (hari mirch) – chopped
▢ 1 inch of ginger (adrak) – chopped
▢ 4 to 5 garlic (lahsun) – chopped
▢ 2 tablespoons of broken cashews
Other ingredients for Lauki Kofta
▢ 1 teaspoon of cumin
▢ ¼ or ½ teaspoon red chili powder
▢ ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
▢ 1 teaspoon ground coriander
▢ ¼ or ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
▢ 1 cup of water or as needed
▢ 1.5 or 2 tablespoons of oil – if using fresh oil
▢ salt as needed
▢ sugar as needed (optional)
Instructions
Make Lauki Kofta
- Rinse and peel the lauki (gourd). Grate it.
- Squeeze the grated lauki and collect the juice in a bowl or cup. Keep the juice aside.
- Mix all the ingredients to make the koftas with the grated lauki except the oil.
- Make small balls or round patties.
- Heat the oil in a kadai or pan. fry the kofta lauki in oil until golden brown on all sides.
- Drain the fried kofta on paper tissues so that the extra oil is absorbed.
Make masala paste
- Mix all the ingredients mentioned under “Masala Paste” with little or no water to obtain a smooth paste.
- Do not add too much water as all of the mixture splashes during frying.
Make Lauki Kofta gravy
- Remove the excess oil from the pan in which the koftas were fried. Keep about 1.5 or 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Heat the oil and fry the cumin first. Then add the masala paste.
- Fry for 8-10 minutes, then add all the spice powders.
- Stir and continue to fry the masala paste until it begins to leave oil on the sides.
- Add the juice and about 1 cup of water to the paste.
- Stir and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Finally, add the fried kofta.
- Turn off the heat and let them rest for a few minutes in the curry.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve the hot lauki kofta with rotis, naan or jeera rice.
