Lauki/Doodhi Kofta
लौकी कोफ्ता

Lauki is the base for this delicious Kofta.

Ingredients:

  Fresh Turmeric

Fresh Turmeric
Sauce:

  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 pinch hing /asafoetida
  • 1 tsp whole jeera (cumin seed)
  • 2 inches of fresh turmeric root pressed through a garlic press (2 tsp of turmeric powder will do if you can't get fresh turmeric - try the Chinese supermarket)
  • 10 long, thin green (bird eye) chillies
  • 2 medium-sized red onions
  • 4 cloves of garlic or two large tsp of minced garlic
  • 1 inch fresh ginger or 2 large tsp of minced ginger
  • 2 tins plain chopped tomatoes (nothing added to them)
  • 1 heaped teaspoon of salt
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 cubic inches creamed coconut broken up into small pieces

Lauki, doodhi, ghiya, kaddoo or Clabash
Lauki, doodhi, ghiya,
kaddoo or Clabash
Koftas:

  • 1 lauki
  • 2 medium-sized brown or white onions
  • 1/2 cup of besan (chick-pea flower)
  • 1 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 2 thin green chillies
  • small handful of fresh coriander leaf
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp lemon juice

Optionally:

Method:

Sauce:

  Asafoetida or hing

Asafoetida or hing
In a large pan add the olive oil and the jeera and heat until the jeera starts to pop, releasing the spice into the oil.

Add the asafoetida and let it dissolve - note that it is usually cut with rice flour which will not dissolve so don't wait more than 30 seconds or so.

Add the coriander powder and then the turmeric, letting the yellow colour of the turmeric spread throughout the oil.

Chop the chillies and onions and add them, along with the garlic and ginger.

Fry them for a minute or so and then add 50-100mls water, stir it around and put the lid on. Cook until the onion is soft.

Add the chopped tomatoes and salt, along with the lemon juice and creamed coconut and bring to the boil, stirring all of the time.

Put on the lid and turn it off.

Koftas:

Top and tail, skin and then shred the Lauki, using a large grater. Squeeze out any excess moisture and place it in a medium-sized plastic bowl.

Lauki kofta mix, ready to fry
Lauki kofta mix,
ready to fry
Slice up the onions and chillies finely and put them in the bowl.

Wash and then slice finely the fresh coriander leaf and put that in the bowl. Mix them up so that they are evenly distributed.

To the bowl, add the Besan, turmeric powder and coriander powder, mixing it in so that it is evenly distributed.

Add the lemon juice and then some water so that you end up with a batter of a similar consistency to the onion bhaji batter.

Lauki koftas frying in sunflower oil
Lauki koftas frying
in sunflower oil
If the batter is too stiff, add some more water, if too loose, add some more besan.

Heat a deep oil fryer up to 165 Celsius

Using a fork, make small, golf-ball-sized pieces of bhaji/kofta and drop them into the oil.

Fry them until they turn golden brown.

If the oil was hotter, the insides would not be cooked properly so it is better to use this lower temperature.

You will have to do this in several batches - my fryer took batches of 8 at a time.

When they are ready, drain them and put them on some kitchen towel.

Finally:

Finished Lauki Kofta in its sauce. You can have a bed of rice for this dish as well.
Finished Lauki Kofta in its sauce.
You can have a bed of rice for this dish as well.
Add the fried kofta/bhajis to the sauce, making sure you cover them completely with the sauce.

Divide up equally into three lunch boxes.

If you have opted to have rice with it as well, put the boiled rice into the lunchbox first to make a bed for the lauki kofta


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