Bottle Gourd Raita 3 (Yoghurt), Spicy
Lauki Raita - 3
Dorin (Rinu) Gupta
Doreen is the elder sister of my nephew's wife and she has sent me this recipe from her home in Himanchal Pradesh in India.
Lauki or Dudhi or Ghia, botanical name Lagenaria siceraria, is a North Indian Sweet Gourd, also known as Bottle Gourd, White-flowered gourd and Calabash gourd. It is from Cucurbitaceae or cucumber family and it is light green in colour. It's texture is a bit firmer than the Western marrow. When fully mature, its fibrous texture is used as Loofah - Mamta.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
250 gm. fresh yoghurt or dahi
1 cup grated fresh sweet gourd/lauki/ghiya, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tsp. roast cumin, coarsely ground
1 level tsp salt, adjust to taste
A large pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 green chilli, thinly sliced (not de-seeded)
1 tbsp. chopped mint or coriander leaves
Instructions
Beat yoghurt, to make it smooth.
Boil lauki/gourd in salted water for five minutes, drain water. Squeeze to get rid of as much water as you can. Keep aside.
To roast cumin, dry roast it on tava or griddle, till it is brown and starts crackling. Remove and coarsely crush with a rolling pin or in a mortar.
Add boiled gourd, salt, crushed jeera, black pepper and green chilli to yoghurt and mix.
Place in a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander and/or mint leaves.
Serve chilled with Indian meal. You can also serve it as a dip, with tiny Nan breads or Tandoori roti squares.
Notes
Also see Raita Selection.
