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
Lauki Kofta Recipe
Ingredients
For Koftas:
- 1 medium-sized lauki / doodhi / bottle gourd
- 4-5 tbsp of besan / gram flour
- 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
- A pinch of hing / asafoetida
- 8 tiny pieces of tamarind optional
- 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste
- Oil for deep frying
For Gravy:
- 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
- 1/4 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
Instructions
For the Koftas:
- 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.
For the Gravy:
- 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 1/2 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.