Lauki Kofta 

Ingredients

For Making Lauki Kofta

• 2 cups bottle gourd – grated (lauki, dudhi, ghia or opo squash, long melon, calabash)
• 4 tablespoons gram flour (besan)
• ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
• ¼ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon green chili – finely chopped or 1 green chili
• salt as required
• oil as required, for deep or shallow frying the kofta

For Making Masala Paste

• 2 tomatoes – large-sized, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, – medium-sized, roughly chopped
• ½ to 1 teaspoon green chillies – chopped or 1 green chilli
• 1 teaspoon ginger – chopped or 1 inch peeled ginger
• 4 to 5 garlic cloves, – small to medium-sized, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons cashews – broken or roughly chopped

Other Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ or ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander)
• ¼ or ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
• 1 cup water or add as required
• 2 tablespoons oil – if using fresh oil
• salt as required
• ½ teaspoon sugar or add as required, optional

Instructions 

Making Lauki Kofta

1. Rinse and peel the lauki (bottle gourd). Grate it. Measure and you should get 2 cups of grated lauki. Make sure to taste the bottle gourd before you peel and grate. It should not be bitter. If the lauki tastes bitter, trash it.
2. Squeeze the grated lauki and collect the juice in a bowl or mug. Keep the juice aside.
3. Mix all the ingredients, except oil, for making the koftas with the grated lauki.
4. Make small round shaped balls or patties. 
5. Heat oil in a kadai or frying pan. Fry the lauki koftas in oil, till they are evenly golden browned from all sides.
6. Drain the fried kofta on paper towels so that the extra oil is absorbed.

Making Masala Paste

1. Blend all the ingredients mentioned under ‘for making masala paste’ without water to a smooth and fine paste.
2. If needed add a bit of water, but don’t add too much water as then the masala paste splutters while frying.

Making Lauki Kofta Gravy

1. Remove extra oil from the frying pan in which the koftas were fried. Keep about 2 tablespoons oil. Or you could opt to use 2 tablespoons of fresh oil.
2. Heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds first on low heat until they splutter. Then, add the ground masala paste.
3. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes on medium-low heat stirring often. Then add all the ground spice powders.
4. Stir and continue to sauté the masala paste till it starts leaving oil from the sides. The masala will also thicken and look glossy.
5. Add the lauki juice and about 1 cup water or as needed to the sautéed masala paste. 
6. Stir and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until the curry thickens a bit. Lastly, add the fried koftas.
7. Switch off the heat and let the koftas be in the gravy for a few minutes.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve Lauki Kofta hot with roti, naan or jeera rice.

Notes

1. If you add water to the kofta mixture to make a pakoda like batter, then do add some gram flour as well. 
2. If you do make a lauki pakoda, then serve it only when serving the gravy. Do not add them in the gravy or curry as they will absorb all the curry. The pakoda being lighter and fluffy, absorbs the gravy. 
3. Do not use tomatoes which are very tangy or sour.
4. You can add sugar in your gravy, if you like it sweet.