Lauki Ki Sabzi | Bottle Gourd Curry

Lauki ki sabzi: Simple, mildly spiced traditional North Indian curry or gravy based dish made of bottle gourd onion, spices, and tomato. A nutritious everyday sabzi tastes great with roti or steamed rice. The recipe is also vegan and gluten-free. 

What is Lauki?

Lauki is the Hindi name of bottle gourd(calabash or opo squash). It has various other names in India, such as dudhi, ghiya, sorakaya, sorakkai etc. It comes in a variety of shapes, rounded, bottle shaped, and long.  

Lauki is available all around the year and is a staple vegetable in Indian cuisine. We make a lot of dishes with lauki, especially during summer. The vegetable has a cooling effect on the body. 

Lauki possesses about 90% water content, high fiber, rich nutrients, low carb, and just a few calories – Which makes it helpful for weight loss, indigestion, constipation, diabetes, and many more. Hence it is good to include this vegetable in our regular diet.

However a bitter tasting bottle gourd should not be consumed.  

About this recipe

This lauki ki sabzi is a light, homely dish. It is really a winner when you prefer something comforting and healthy.  

I have not shared any bottle gourd recipes yet, so thought of sharing this one.

The lauki pieces are cooked in a sauteed onion tomato based masala. It has a slightly tangy taste from the tomatoes, which goes very well with hot rotis.

I have prepared this sabzi in a pressure cooker but you can also make this in a pan or instant pot (mentioned in the recipe card below). You can add more or fewer chilies to suit your taste. You can even use ghee(clarified butter) and asafoetida(hing) to enhance the flavor.

More Sabzi Recipes:

Here are a few of my favorites to try:

• Ethiopian Cabbage
• Ivy Gourd Stir Fry
• Aloo Capsicum
• Gobi Aloo Masala

How to pick the right Bottle Gourd?

Always look for small, tender, pale green color, smooth bottle gourds. Never go for hard and huge ones. They don’t taste good. 

Lauki Sabzi Ingredients

This recipe requires a few standard ingredients. Here is what you’ll need to make this bottle gourd recipe:

• Lauki / bottle gourd: I have used a medium-sized lauki, around 500 grams in weight; 
• Oil: I like to use mustard oil for this recipe. You can use sunflower oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, canola oil, or any cooking oil you prefer. Ghee or clarified butter could be used as well. If using mustard oil make sure to heat the oil until it smokes;
• Whole spices: cumin seeds, bay leaf, green chili.  Use deseeded chili if you are concerned about spiciness or you can even skip adding;
• Onion: use thinly sliced or finely chopped;
• Ginger-garlic paste: peel 5 garlic cloves and ½ inch ginger and make a paste or just crush them.
• Tomato: I have used fresh tomatoes. You could use canned tomatoes if fresh is not available;
• Ground spices: turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and garam masala powder. Adjust chili powder as per your tolerance. Chili powder could be substituted with cayenne pepper. 
• Garam masala: store-bought or homemade garam masala powder will do. Curry powder is a nice substitute; 
• Coriander/cilantro: fresh coriander leaves. For a nice hint of freshness;

Note: The ground spices used in the recipe are the basic Indian spices which can be easily found online on amazon or in an Indian or Asian grocery store.

Preparing Bottle Gourd

• Wash the bottle gourd and with a sharp knife cut off the top and bottom ends.  
• Peel off the skin with a peeler or a sharp knife and cut it into half lengthwise. You can also make quarters if you need. 
• Now cut each into bite-size cubes. Remove large seeds if any.

Lauki Sabzi Preparations Step By Step

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Once the oil turns hot, add cumin seeds, green chili, and bay leaf. Let the cumin seeds splutter. Add in onion slices and saute over medium flame for about 2-3 minutes until the onion turns slightly golden brown. 
• Add in ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes until the raw smell goes. If required, sprinkle some water.
• Add in turmeric powder, red chili powder, and coriander powder. Saute to mix. 

• Add in chopped tomatoes along with salt. Saute the tomatoes for 2 minutes until soft and pulpy. 
• Add in lauki and saute over medium-high flame for a minute. 
• Next, add in 1/4 cup of water and pressure cook for about 2 whistles. Turn off the heat.
• Allow the pressure to settle. Open the cooker, you will see the lauki has released a lot more water.
• Turn the flame on and stir the lauki over high flame till you get your desired consistency.

• At this point, turn off the flame, add garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Stir to mix and serve hot.

Tips

Since lauki contains a lot of water, I would suggest whatever cooking method you use, try to add as little water as possible and also make sure to evaporate the water until you get the right consistency (unless you are using a gourd from the cold storage).

Possible Recipe Variations

Here are a few more ways you can customize this lauki ki sabzi:

• Add chana dal(Bengal gram): lauki and chana dal combine very well. Soak the chana dal for an hour or two and add them along with lauki and cook until done. 
• Add vadi(dried moong dal dumplings):  also called Punjabi wadi. First, stir fry the vadis in little oil until golden brown. It will take around 1 minute or so, then remove from oil. You can add them towards the end or add them along with lauki and cook them together. 
• Add veggies: vegetables like potato, brinjal, green beans, and peas pair wonderfully with this. 
• Add coconut milk or cream: Sometimes I also add thick coconut milk or cream to this curry. Evaporate the excess water and add ¼ cup coconut milk towards the end. This will give a rich, creamy taste to the sabzi. 

Serving Suggestions

Serve this lauki sabzi with roti, chapati, phulka, or steamed rice along with some dal and raita for a wholesome lunch or dinner. 

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5 from 17 votes

Lauki Ki Sabzi | Bottle Gourd Curry

Simple, mildly spiced North Indian curry or gravy based dish made of bottle gourd onion, spices, and tomato. A nutritious everyday sabzi tastes great with roti or steamed rice. The recipe is also vegan and gluten-free.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Bottle gourd curry, Lauki ki sabzi

Servings3 people

Author Geetanjali

INGREDIENTS ( 1 CUP = 250 ML )

• 500 grams or medium lauki or bottle gourd
• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 green chili slit
• 1 medium onion thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 medium size tomato chopped
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• ¼ cup water
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves or cilantro finely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

Pressure Cooker Method

• Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Once the oil turns hot, add cumin seeds, green chili, and bay leaf. Let the cumin seeds splutter. Add in onion slices and saute over medium flame for about 2-3 minutes until the onion turns slightly golden brown.
• Add in ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes until the raw smell goes. If required, sprinkle some water.
• Add in turmeric powder, red chili powder, and coriander powder. Saute to mix.
• Add in chopped tomatoes along with salt. Saute the tomatoes for 2 minutes until soft and pulpy.
• Add in lauki and saute over medium-high flame for a minute.
• Next, add in 1/4 cup of water and pressure cook for about 2 whistles. Turn off the heat.
• Allow the pressure to settle. Open the lid, you will see the lauki has released a lot more water.
• Turn the flame on and saute the lauki over high flame till you get your desired consistency.
• At this point, turn off the flame, add garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Stir to mix and serve hot.

Stovetop Pan Method

• Use a pan, pot, or kadai instead of a pressure cooker and follow the same process mentioned above. Just skip using water. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer till lauki is cooked. Do stir a couple of times in between. Finish adding garam masala powder along with coriander leaves, then serve hot.

Instant Pot Method

• Press the saute button of the Instant pot and add oil in the inner pot. When the oil becomes hot, add cumin seeds, green chili and bay leaf. Let the cumin seeds splutter.
• Add onions and saute for 3 minutes, stirring often until onions turn slightly golden.
• Add in ginger-garlic paste and saute for 2 minutes until the raw smell goes. If the spices stick to the pot, add a few splashes of water, deglaze the pan and continue to cook.
• Add in turmeric powder, red chili powder, and coriander powder. Saute to mix.
• Add In chopped tomatoes along with salt. Saute the tomatoes for 2 minutes until soft and pulpy. Scrape off from the bottom in between to avoid sticking to the pot.
• Next add in lauki/bottle gourd pieces and saute for a minute. Add in ¼ cup of water and stir to mix.
• Close the lid, turn the valve to sealing position.
• Set the pot to pressure cook on high mode and set the timer to 6 minutes.
• Once done, do a natural pressure release (NPR).
• Open the lid. You will see that the lauki has released a lot more water. Press the saute button and saute the curry until you get the desired consistency.
• Finish adding garam masala powder and coriander leaves. Stir to mix and serve hot.

Notes

• Since lauki contains a lot of water, I would suggest whatever cooking method you use, try to add as little water as possible and also make sure to evaporate the water until you get the right consistency (unless you are using a gourd from the cold storage).

Ingredient Notes

• Oil: I like to use mustard oil for this recipe. You can use sunflower oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, canola oil, or any cooking oil you prefer. Ghee or clarified butter could be used as well. If using mustard oil make sure to heat the oil until it smokes;
• Whole spices: cumin seeds, bay leaf, green chili. Use deseeded chili if you are concerned about spiciness or you can even skip adding;
• Ginger-garlic paste: peel 5 garlic cloves and ½ inch ginger and make a paste or just crush them.
• Ground spices: turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and garam masala powder. Adjust chili powder as per your tolerance. Chili powder could be substituted with cayenne pepper.
• Garam masala: store-bought or homemade garam masala powder will do. Curry powder is a nice substitute;