Lauki Kofta Recipe: 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?
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 even better.
Also check out Aloo Paneer Koftas | Malai Kofta | Khadi Pakoda
- 1 medium-sized lauki / doodhi / bottle gourd
- 4-5 tbsp of besan / gram flour
- ½ tsp of red chilli powder
- A pinch of hing / asafoetida
- 8 tiny pieces of tamarind (optional)
- ½ tsp of salt (or to taste)
- Oil for deep frying
- 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
- ¼ 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
- Quarter the lauki and peel it. Remove the seeds inside and grate it
- Squeeze out all excess water and add the grated lauki to a bowl with the chilli powder, salt, besan and hing. Mix well to combine.
- Make small lemon-sized balls with this mixture and make a small dent in the centre to place the tamarind.
- Cover it up and make the ball smooth.
- Fry in hot oil until brown all over. Keep the flame to medium hot and keep turning to cook evenly.
- Drain and set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan add add the sliced onions.
- When they soften and start to brown around the edge, add the turmeric powder, coriander, chilli powder and salt.
- Cook until the masala turns fragrant and is blended well with the onions (about 3 mins).
- Add the tomatoes and about ½ cup water.
- Bring to boil and simmer until the tomatoes are soft (about 5-7 mins).
- Puree this mixture in a blender and return to the pan.
- Bring to boil and add the yogurt and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well, adjust salt and remove from fire.
- Add the koftas into the gravy and let it sit for an hour or so before serving
Step by Step Pictures to make Lauki Kofta
For the Koftas:
1. Quarter the lauki and peel it. Remove the seeds inside and grate it fine.
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.
For the Gravy:
7. Heat oil in a pan add add the sliced onions.
8. When the onions 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. Add the koftas into the gravy and let it sit for an hour or so before serving
The koftas taste really good after sitting in the gravy for a while. You can roll up rotis with this kofta curry as a filling and pack it for lunch. Lauki kofta also tastes fabulous with jeera rice or vegetable pulao.
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 you would prefer me laying out each step picture one after the other like I normally do.
Please leave a comment on this post if you try and like this lauki kofta recipe.
tried this recipe with a few changes. I baked the koftas for around 30 mins at 400F and added ginger in the gravy. Never knew that koftas can be made using bottlegourd and never expected them to taste this good! This turned out to be a healthy dish too for me as I baked the koftas 🙂
hi, I usually make the koftas in the appam patra, so that i can shallow fry instead of deep frying. This way the cover becomes crispy, like in fried version.
Also, instead of tamarin, I put one raisin in the middle. The idea is to avoid an undercooked centre.
u can add Poppy seed(khas-khas) for coftas…. i have tried… it taste nice
I just made this. Thanx for this wonderful recipe.. So easy and lip-smacking!! Wow!!
Nags,
I have some ash gourd at home and no bottle gourd. Do you think I can try this recipe with Ash gourd(kumbalanga)
Never made anything other than puluseery,Oln and pachadi with Ashgourd:-)
i haven't tried koftas with ash gourd but it should work. just make sure you squeeze out all moisture before proceeding, otherwise the koftas will break in the oil.
Lovely ..never heard of this koftas made with vegetable..nice
Tried this recipe yesterday, family loved it. Only problem was that all the gravy was absorbed
nice ecipe..i hd tried it much before from d same SANJEEV KAPOOR's..n it taste much tastier if u use cream at d end..delicious
aww.. rotis are soo perfect. I never get them right okay not never but only get them right sometimes. Where did you buy the bowl from? It is soo nice and presentable and I have to try this kofta looks sooo delish!
Preethi
the bowl is from a shop in Chennai, I think Poppat Jamal or one of the local stores. It's relatively easy to find in India 🙂 Thanks for liking the lauki kofta recipe too!
I have heard about this, never tasted or tried, very tempting with those rotis
Lauki koftas are more preferred than the potato koftas in my home. Hats off to your patience and way of presentation, Nags! Hugs.
step by step tile looks too good..I too tried this gravy long back with MB's recipe..:) love the bowl 🙂
This is one is in my to do list for a long time, but somehow i always mess up while handling Lauki. U made it so well and the last pic is totally tempting
The photo makes it hard to not read the rest of it!it looks so delicious.i am imagining crispy and soft inside and yummy all along!
keep up the good job..you are inspiring a lot of us to cook and feed 🙂
wow delicious recipe,well explained Nags…
Have never cooked with lauki too 🙂 The last pic is fab! Perfect for TV watching nights 🙂
That's an interesting recipe that I am going to be trying soon. About the tiled photos, one of the main draws of your blog is the fabulous pictures. In my opinion, tiling them dilutes from the awesomeness of the pictures. Also as someone above rightly pointed out the picture after each step helps us remember the recipe. I used the step-by-step pictorial of your bread recipe and I could picture the photos in my head when I was trying to replicate it. 🙂
that's great feedback on the step by step pics for the recipes. thanks! 🙂
Your step by step pictorial is the highlight of your blog!!!! Your recipes are really tasty… Tried so many… Keep the good work Nags!
This is the simplest Kofta Curry I have ever seen!! A sure try for me very soon…thanks a lot for sharing! Special compliment for the pics!! 🙂
Wow amazing and mouth watering!
Using tamarind inside any stuffing that too in Kofta is very new to me.. Loved the idea..
Lauki kofta is very regular in my place, but I keep th egravy even simpler. Would love to try this version of yours.
Wow awesome!! Looks too delectable dear 🙂
Thanks for the Yum recipe! I just got myself lauki and was wondering if I should pick up the phone and call my mil! As always presented so nicely that I can almost eat off my monitor! Thanks Nags!
Oh that pic of koftas have left me drooling and hungry! Beautiful!
One of my favourites, have made a healthier version as well 🙂 whichever version its always yum!
I love lauki koftas in gravy too! I have tried Raghavan Iyer's recipe and it rocks! Time consuming ( of course!) but worth it.
Like the idea of placing tamarind in the center. Even a dot of khajur-imli chutney would taste good, what say?
Your Lauki kofta recipe looks very simple. The pics are just awesome. I just admire you putting the step by step pics. Keep going girl…!
these kofte are perfect for gloomy weather we are having here in Hyderabad. Bring on those deep fried goodies I say 🙂
I like the tiled approach for the step by step pics. When there are too many steps, this makes it a lot more compact and effective, me thinks.
Siri
sunaps looks very beautiful Nags. I am so fond of these Koftas, I do them every 3 weeks religiously
bumped into ur blog after ages nags .. and lauki ke kofte is what pulled me here.. 🙂 the tiles approach looks good, for people who want to have quick glance of the recipe, this is great… 🙂 have always loved ur pics…
the kofta curry is very regular at my place… we just make regular koftas without any stuffing… i wonder how the tamarind must be tasting inside the kofta… must be yum 🙂
tempting clicks and will try out soon…. lauki kofta looks mouth appealing…
The picture of the roti with the kofta is really tempting ! This is a great way of using bottle gourd. I had made it using your way of making kofta in a paniyaram pan…
Laying out each step picture one after the other is better. It makes it easy to memorize the entire recipe. Otherwise the reader has to scroll up and down to get a look at the photo that goes with the step … 🙂
Looks so tempting esp the last pic makes me drool…yummy looking kofta