This lauki tamatar sabzi is one of the healthy vegetable side dishes that goes well with roti, paratha or khichdi. This is nutritious and satvik recipe that is made without onion and garlic.
3cupsLauki (Bottle gourd or Dudhi)peeled and cubed
⅓-½cupWater
2tablespoonsCilantro or coriander leavesfinely chopped
½teaspoonLemon juice or Lime juiceor to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add chopped green chilies and saute for 30-40 seconds.
Add tomatoes and cook until soft and almost mushy.
Add salt and spice powders (turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder and coriander powder). Mix well and saute for a minute.
Add cubed lauki and water. Mix well. Cover the pan with a lid. Cook until bottle gourd is soft and fork tender.
Do stir once or twice in between and make sure that there is enough water. If there is too much after cooking lauki then cranck the heat to high and let the excess water evaporate and make the desired gravy consistency.
Taste the gravy and check the sourness. Depending on that skip the lemon juice or add few drops of lemon juice.
Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro.
Notes
How to make thick gravy?
Option 1: reduce the amount of water added here which makes a semi-thick gravy.
Option 2: Add a small cubed potato. After cooking mash few potato pieces using back of the spoon and simmer for 2-3 minutes. The potato will absorb most of the water and makes the gravy thick. If adding potato then you need to add little more spices to adjust the taste.
For a variation, you can try adding some garam masala at the end of cooking process.Instant pot (pressure cooker) instructions: Follow the same steps into the instant pot. Reduce the amount of water to ¼ cup only. Pressure cook on manual high pressure for 5-6 minutes. Once pin drops open the lid, taste and add lemon juice accordingly.