Lauki Ke Kofte (Contributed By: Anks)

First of all I would like to apologies for the delay between this recipe and the previous one but life have been kinda busy at my end. This is the first contribution to the Sanjha Chulha, so I am really excited about this one. Yes, the recipe is Lauki ke kofte. Kaps was the first one to guess, so good on you brother. At my house, Mom used to make these only on special occasions or parties but it used to be my favorite. Unfortunately, Lauki is not a very common vegetable out here. It's only found in one desi store near my city and that too is like hours away from my place. But just reading about this recipe from Anks bought paani in my mouth. I would like to Thanks Anks for emailing me this recipe for the Sanjha Chulha. The recipe looks awesome. Here's what Anks had to say about it...

I gave out a recipe to my friend the day before and she cooked the dish and got it for us yesterday. It turned out to be great and so I thought of sending it to you. Lauki is one of the widely disliked vegetables, specially by kids and me and bro were no exception. So everytime mom bought lauki, we asked her to make this!

Lauke Ke Kofte - Anks Style!!

Ingredients: (These are by approximation)

1. 1 small lauki (gourd) or about 5 inch piece of a big fat one
2. 3-4 large spoons of gram flour (besan)
3. 1 onion
4. 3 tomatoes
5. Red chillies
6. Jeera
7. Fresh coriander leaves
8. Red chilly powder
9. Coriander powder
10. Turmeric powder
11. Black pepper powder
12. Garam masala powder
13. Salt
14. Oil for frying and cooking

Method:

1. Grate the lauki and add dry spices like red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt to it
2. Add the gram flour and mix well
3. Add very little water and make a thick mixture. (The mixture needs to be as thick as the one made while frying bhajiyas)
4. Take small quantities of the mixture and deep fry
5. Your koftas are ready. Set them aside for now
6. Coarse grind jeera, green chillies, onion and tomatoes
7. Add 2 large spoons of oil in a pan and heat well
8. Add the coarse ground masala to it
9. Once the masala is semi-cooked, it turns granular. This takes about seven to ten minutes
10. Lower the flame and continuously stir the masala at this stage
11. Add the dry masala - red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste
12. Add about 3-4 cups of water to make the gravy
13. Boil the gravy till all the froth disappears
14. Add the fried koftas to the gravy
15. Garnish with black pepper powder, garam masala powder and fresh coriander leaves
16. Serve hot with rotis

Trivia from Anks:

Whew! long one na? Par kuch paane ke liye kuch mehnat to karni hi padti hai! BTW, did you know that lauki is called dhoodhi here in Maharashtra? So we know use 4 names of lauki in our house - lauki, ghiya, dhoodhi and gourd!

Hint for next recipe: Main batata hu na ke mujhe tum pe shaak ho raha hain.

Gossip of the week: Aamir Khan has teamed up with Mani Ratnam. Is this exciting or what?