Bottle Gourd-Oatmeal Balls Curry / Lauki ka Kofta, oatmeal ke saath

Bottle Gourd-Oatmeal Balls Curry/

Lauki ka Kofta, oatmeal ke saath

This is a very popular North-Indian curry. It is very simple to make but tastes great. I have made a small twist to the recipe by adding oatmeal to it and making it more nutritious. Traditional recipe asks for boiled potato while making the koftas (balls) but I have removed that and added oatmeal instead. Thus, diabetics too can enjoy this recipe to the fullest.

Bottle gourd is very good for our digestive system. It is cooling, calming, diuretic and anti-bilious. Its great for diabetic people and also helps in weight reduction. 

Ingredients

·       Bottle Gourd/Lauki     – 2 cups grated

·       Oatmeal                    – 3 tsp

·       Bread slices              – 2

·       Salt to taste

·       Chili powder              – 1 tsp

·       Corriander powder     – 2 tsp

·       Turmeric powder       – ½ tsp

·       Garam masala powder – 1 tsp

·       Cloves                      – 4 pods

·       Whole black pepper   – 4-5 nos. (1/2 tsp)

·       Green chilies             – 1 finely chopped

·       Jeera/Carrom seeds – 2 tsp

·       Onion                       – 2 medium sized

·       Tomato                     – 1 medium sized

·       Ginger                      – 2” piece finely chopped

·       Garlic                       – 3 cloves finely chopped

·       Kasoori Methi            – 2 tsp

·       Coriander leaves       – 3 tsp finely chopped

Method

1.    Squeeze excess water from the grated bottle gourd. Keep aside.

2.    Soak the bread slices in water and squeeze it hard to remove the excess water and crumble it. Keep aside.

3.    In a bowl, mix the crumbled bread slices, grated bottle gourd, oatmeal, salt, green chilies, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp jeera, half the amount of ginger. Mix all nicely to form dough like consistency.

4.    Divide the mixture into small-small portions to make balls out of each. Approximately this mixture makes 15 koftas (balls).

5.    Grease your palms with oil and roll each portion into small balls.

6.    Take oil in a wok. Heat over medium heat.

7.    Deep-fry the bottle gourd balls till golden brown. Keep aside.

8.    Grind the onion, tomato, garlic, garlic cloves and black pepper, to a thick paste. Keep aside.

9.    Remove excess oil from the wok and let remain 5 tsp of oil in it.

10.Heat the wok again over medium heat.

11.When hot, add the remaining jeera and chopped ginger. Stir for 2-3 seconds.

12.Now add the onion-tomato paste and increase the flame to high.

13.Add 4 to 5 tsp of water, salt, turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala powder, chili powder and fry the masala for a while.

14.Now add kasoori methi and further fry the masala till the masala starts  separating oil from it.  

15. Now add 1.5 cups of water and bring the mixture to boil.

16.When it starts boiling, reduce the flame to simmer. Let the mixture simmer for 4-5 minutes.

17.Now turn the flame off. Add the bottle gourd balls (koftas) into the mixute and stir it so that the gravy coats each koftas well.

18.Cover the wok so that the gravy is properly absorbed into the koftas (balls).

19.Before serving, re-heat the curry, transfer it to a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serving

Serve hot with puffed phulkas (rotis), parathas or pooris. Steaming hot plain rice also goes well with this nutritious curry.