Indian vegetarian Recipes : Lauki Koftas

Serves 4

For this Lauki Koftas recipe you need

1. chickpea flour ( besan ) 1/ 2 cup
2. bottle gourd ( lauki) 1 kilogram
3. corriander leaves 2 table spoons
finely chopped and washed
4. greenchilli chopped 2
5. ginger garlic paste 2 tea spoons
6. oil to deep fry
7. onions 2 medium sized
peeled washed
finely chopped
8. tomatoes 3 medium
finely chopped
9 . bay leaf 1
10. garam masala powder 1/2 teaspoon
11. red chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon
12. turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
13 corriander powder 1 teaspoon
14. dry red chillies 4
15.salt to taste
16 . ginger grated 1 inch
17 cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Lauki Koftas Recipe - Method

TO MAKE THE BALLS ( koftas )

1. wash , peel and grate the bottle gourd .
2. mix half a tea spoon salt and keep aside for 30 min .
3. squeeze to drain excess water .
4. take a big bowl, put besan (chickpea flour), finely chopped green chilli , corriander leaves ( chopped ), grated ginger, salt. And now mix well to make a dough. Use little water if required.
5. divide this dough into 15 equal portions
6. using your palm give shape to the portions into balls. you can use little oil on your palm.
7 heat oil in a non stick pan which should be deep.
8 when the oil is hot then put the balls and on a slow fire fry them till golden brown and crisp. Cooking on slow sim fire is necessary to let them cook from inside also.
9. drain the balls out and keep them aside till the gravy is ready.

TO MAKE THE GRAVY

1. heat oil in a nonstick pan. add bay leaf
2. put cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste. dries red chillies ( optional )
3. now add onions ( as mentioned finely chopped )
4. saute onions till golden brown
5. now add the finely chopped tomatoes
6. fry them till oil separates from tomatoes this is a key to know that tomatoes are fried
7. now add turmeric powder, corriander powder, red chilli powder and salt.
8 . mix well saute little bit for about 30 seconds
9. add 3 cups water
10. let the water boil
11. cook for about 5 min
12. to make the gravy rich and creamy you can add 2 tablespoons of fresh cream ( optional )
13. now add the fried balls ( koftas )
14. after adding the balls add corriander leaves (chopped) and sprinkle the garam masala
15. just cook for another 5 min on a slow fire
and serve hot.