Lauki is a type of squash that is light green in color, has a mild flavor and goes by many different names — doodhi (dudhi), opo, bottle gourd, Ghiya, Calabash, to name a few. The milk in this recipe gives a comforting creaminess to the Doodhi, while the Dals give a pop of color and texture. Lauki is a great summer vegetable as it is full of vitamins with very few calories and zero fat. A lot of people enjoy it in juice for as it is good for weight-loss. Try this recipe for a variation in taste and texture to this often overlooked vegetable.
Ingredients:
Lauki/Doodhi/Bottlegourd – 4 cups, peeled and cubed (600gm or 1.3lb)
Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Channa Daal – 1 tsp
Urad Daal – 1 tsp
Fenugreek (Methi) Seeds – 1/8 tsp
Curry Leaves – sprig
Dried Red Chili – 1, broken
Asafoetida – pinch
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies – to taste, finely chopped
Onions – 1 medium, chopped
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Milk – 1/2 cup
Method:
1. Heat Oil in a medium pan on medium heat.
2. Add Mustard Seeds and let them pop.
3. Add Cumin Seeds and let them sizzle.
4. Add Chana Daal, Urad Daal, Fenugreek Seeds and Curry Leaves – cook for 30 secs and add Dried Red Chili, Asafoetida and Turmeric Powder – stir well.
5. Add Green Chilies, Onions and Lauki. Mix well.
6. Add Salt and Red Chili Powder – stir, cover and cook until Lauki is tender (5-7 minutes).
7. Add Milk, mix and cook until milk is mostly evaporated, leaving a creamy coating on the Lauki.
8. Serve hot with chapati or roti.
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Did you guys ever discover turmeric wasn’t added?
Hey kudos for great recipe. Do we have to soak the chana dal before hand to use it?
Thanks
Hi Pravar,
No, it gets soft in the cooking process without soaking.
Hi there,
I have tried this auki sabzi number of times and my husband loves it, but every time i make the milk seperates! I have tried putting cold, luke warm, warm, hot but none of it worked. Every time the milk seperates, the sabzi tastes delicious though. Is the milk suppose to separate or mi doing something wrong.
Yes, the milk does separate but usually evaporates into a creamy like texture. That is normal.
Channa dal takes lot of time to cook but in your recipe total cooking time is very less. Will the channa dal properly mix with loki? Kya channa dal pak jayagi. thanks in advance
Hi Sukhvinder,
If you soak the daal, then it doesn’t take as long to cook in the pressure cooker.
Tried cooking lauki for the first time a few minutes ago. Dissapointed that the milk I added separated. Why is that? I also wanted to ask should I have removed the seeds? I had removed some of it but removing all of it will not leave me with much lauki to eat. How about the flesh…..I had not removed it because you guys hadn’t but it’s a little tough to eat. It would be lovely if you guys could give me your input. Then I could try it again and hopefully it will get better! Thanks in advance for your reply and for all the hardwork you put into your website. Much appreciated :o)
Hi Disha,
The milk does separate a bit but as it dries up, it gets incorporated with the rest of the subzi. You do not need to remove the seeds unless the lauki is really old and the seeds are really hard. However, you do have to peel it. Sorry we did not mention that in the recipe but lauki cannot be eaten with the peel on. We have added that to the recipe now. Thanks.
This is my favorite recipie now! tried it again today and all loved it! Thank you girls 🙂
This recipe sounds very yummy.
How long will it stay good. For instance if we make it in the morning and pack for lunch, will it stay good, with milk being added? Any thoughts?
Yes, for a couple of hours, it will be fine.
tried it it was more of south indian tasting sabzi.
Great lauki recipe….will try it today…thankyou A n H.
Hi ladies..
Just wanted to share it with u ppl..Bottlegourd n methi leaves wid a seasoning of jeera in ghee tastes awesome..!!!!!
Jus a different way i invented to cook dis veggie.. 🙂
That sounds great, Shraddha, we love methi in every form. Do you use fresh or dried and how much?
Email us the recipe:
Anuja@ShowMeTheCurry.com
or
Hetal@ShowMeTheCurry.com
Hey Anuja….
Use fresh methi leaves…finely chopped abt half a cup of it…
Will email u d recipe asap… 😉
Thanks guys
This dish was awesome….my fussy husband would like it am sure! You guys rock….I am making new dishes everyday now!
Also, I have a bit of eggplant that needs to be used up.
I am thinking of throwing that in there as well. Bad idea? or doesn’t matter?
Thank you for posting this recipe and a video for it.
I will try this out today for my family. Only modifications will be no hing (do not have any) and using a white onion instead of red (again, do not have any).
Seems interesting and with the milk, it will be something very different for my family.
Hope I can make it work!
Hi Hetel and Anuja, Happened to view your videos; they were really good. Could you please suggest me on the following-
1. Tips for storing wheat flour for a long time free from flour beetles/worms. Can I drop in bay leaves in the container?
2. How do I prepare RICE RAWA AT HOME FOR MY IDLI BATTER?
Thanks.
Hi Meera,
I usually buy a big bag of chapati flour from the Indian store. I open the bag and distribute the flour into the large gallon sized ziploc bags. I only open one bag at a time and remember to tightly close the zip. You can even keep the extra bags of flour in the refrigerator if you have the room. We have heard of some people using bay leaves but are not sure of the effectiveness. Another option is homeopathic tablets available at some Indian grocery stores or from India. You can use these in rice and daals as well.
Regarding grinding idli rava at home, you can do it if you have a stone dry grinder at home. This is not the wet stone grinder that you use to grind idli/dosa batter but you are able to grind dry grains and daals. You would need to use idli rice (parboiled rice).
Hi Hetal,
So nice of you (for having solved the mystery).
A very big thanks for such an elaborate answer.
Have made note of it.
As regards homeopathic tablets – this is something really new to me.
Idli rawa- I do not have a dry stone grinder.
That’s ok.
It would be improper if I do not appreciate your patience, friendliness and immediate replies.
Rgds.
Do convey my warm regards to Anuja also.
Keep rocking.
hey meera, i live in florida and no indian store in vincity .. so i bought dog food storage container from container store in miami about 40 pounds its good..u can try it.. my flour has been fresh ever since.
@ valarie williams : I think of all the other websites I have seen, this is the most reliable site where you can trust and try the recipes and won’t waste your time nor food.
I have tried most of the recipes and recommend my friends also. Indeed sanjay thumma, too, is a good chef, but frankly speaking I tried some of his recipes and was disappointed.(the same recipes I followed later from this site and result came out good).That’s my personal experience.
I love Hetal and Anuja, really grateful that they share their knowledge to benefit ‘sincere’ learners.
About the accent and presentation, they are perfect and not like those western chefs who chatters unnecessarily and sounds like silly.
Valarie,Please feel free to avoid viewing this website are you forced to view it anyway? No one bothers of what you think , you are not paying to view this website so kindly log off & jog on .
I think you women are really pretentious and its almost painful to watch your presentations,your accent is disgusting…why dont you stick to your Indian roots and work from that angle (@ sanjay thumma) the fake accent, the too-painful-to-watch lack of chemistry between you two, all not good. Besides most of the recipes aren’t really original and some are down right nasty.
Hi Valerie,
We really value our viewers’ feedback and we don’t take it lightly. We were just wondering which of our recipes you find “down right nasty”. We make it a point to show only tried and tested recipes from our kitchen…the ones that we and our families enjoy. As far as originality goes, we try to show the traditional way of cooking most recipes (of course with added healthy variations).
If your opinion of us is that we are “painful to watch”, we really can’t help you there. It’s a free website and a free world. You are free to choose what you watch. And…the accents are not fake. We still speak the same way when no one is looking :).
valerie, indian recipes r like folk songs.. no one knows who wrote them but ppl sing them in their own styles.. and dont be so critical of their accent, u r here for their recipes not for auditioning them!! try their recipes.. we all can judge eachother but in the end its waste of energy… u r wasting ur energy..
Valerie,
Are you on crack? If you don’t like the site, go somewhere else. You don’t have to be rude, what is wrong with you? After my Mom passed away, this site has helped me so much to cook for my Dad. Thanks ladies, y’all are awesome!
Thanks so much for the support Andrew! You’re a good son 🙂
Absolutely loved the dish!!
Thanks for sharing.
I’m a white guy learning to cook Indian food for my Punjabi partner. I absolutely LOVE your website! You saved me!
That’s true dedication to your partner right there!
hi hetal and anuja
will definitely try out this dish. it looks yummy.
i have tried this out many times…..n its tooooo gud……thanks padma n to both of u
thanks for the recipes
just one suggestion, please add basic cooking tips along with each of the recipes as you have done on some of the recipes(for instance the bhindi)
can’t tell you how much it helps for absolute beginners like me who don’t know the differnce between your mustard seeds from your cumin seeds 🙂
Sometimes it is very hard for us to go into a lot of details as we tend to always be in a crunch for time. But will keep it in mind. Thanks!
Also wanted to request Undhiyoo and srikhand recipes from you guys…
Thanks in advance… I love your recipes- easy for all level cooks!
Hi Hetal/Anuja,
Like your lauki recipe… just wondering can you mix onions and milk in the same recipe… I know punjabi recipes call for it… but gujjus believe you shouldnt mix these two ingredients… causes the milk to seperate(paneer effect) – I usually stay away – can we replace it with fresh yogurt that is not sour? Have you tried it?
Hi Satya,
I remember my mom telling me that a long time ago — had forgotten it :). There are so many dishes that have both onions and milk in it (and nothing bad happens after eating them) that I’m starting to think it was an old wives tale. But, the decision is your’s. We’ve never tried yogurt, but it should work. It may separate due to the heat but should taste fine.
I was using bottle gourd for the first time … My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this dish… Thanks
I do the same way but i like to do it as gravy curry so i put more milk and in the end I add little roasted peanut & sesame seed powders.
Try coconut milk instead of reg.milk it taste more delicious.
Sounds excellent! Will give it a try:-)
louki with milk and badi is a regular recipe in bengali households.However,the use of chana and urad daal gives it a south indian twist,I guess.
Thanks
Kalpana
Hi,
I just remembered my ma after seeing ur video.I know it tastes yummy but do try it with just cumin,onions,thin long cut ginger,lauki/ zucchini,turmeric and give it a steam in pressure cooker.Just when you open the pressure put milk.
Zucchini with milk tastes like some high end dish ….do try it
Thanks for a wonderful site.
hi , this is the version my husband likes , long cut ginger and less of other masalas ..thx