Lauki Ka Kofta

I have been a Lacto Vegetarian all my life and now slowly trying transitioning into being Vegan. This is going to be very very difficult for me as I love my masala chai , paneer dishes and all the ghee laden Indian sweets like mysore pak to its core. So to give myself a boost I have joined 21 Days Vegan Kickstart India challenge and hope I can stick to it. 

Most of our Indian gravies and curries are vegan, that is if we don't add ladles and ladles of cream or ghee tadka to make it rich. One such gravy dish which is my favourite is Lauki Ka Kofta. I love those kofta balls floating in delicious gravy. I have made the kofta balls in non stick aebleskiver pan ( appam pan) with very less oil and have not added any cream in the gravy, thus it's completely vegan.

Ingredients:

For the kofta balls-

Bottle Gourd/ Lauki/ Opo Squash- 2 Cups grated

Chick Pea Flour( Besan)- 1/2 Cup

Salt- To taste

Red Chilli Powder- As per taste

Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder)- 1/4tsp

Green Chillies- 2( Optional)

Canola Oil- To shallow fry in aebleskiever pan

For the gravy-

Onion- 1 Large

Ginger- 1 Inch Piece

Garlic- 2 or 3 Cloves

Tomatoes- 3 Medium Sized ( ground)

Whole Dry Red Chillies- 2

Green Chilly- 1(optional)

Salt- To Taste

Red Chilli Powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder- 1/2 tsp

Canola Oil- 2 Tbsp

Procedure:

• Add salt in the grated bottle gourd and keep aside for few minutes, then squeeze out the water.
• Mix with it chick pea flour, red chilli powder, dry mango powder and make a dough out of it.
• Make 12 equal balls of the dough. In the appam pan put few drops of oil in each section and then put the kofta balls for shallow frying. 
• Keep the pan covered and once the bottom side turns light brown turn it over and cook covered the other side as well.
• Take out the kofta balls from the pan and keep aside. 
• For the gravy grind onions, ginger, garlic and red chillies together. 
• Heat oil in a deep pan and once hot add in the onion paste and fry till raw smell disappears.
• Add in the tomato paste along with turmeric powder, coriander powder, green chilly, salt and red chilly powder. Fry till the mixture starts leaving oil from the side.
• Add in 2-3 cups of water and bring to boil. Now keep the gravy in simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Add in garam masala and switch off the gas. 

Before serving add the kofta balls in the gravy and heat it for another minute or so. Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

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