Sorekayi Palya/bottle gourd curry

Bottle gourd is also known as sorekayi in kannada or lauki in hindi. This is an easily digestible vegetable and can be given for kids as well. Though the appearance is not so inviting to eat, when you know the nutrients of this vegetable sometimes you need to let go on the looks ;).

This veggie is not only highly rich in iron and protein but also in fibre. The more fibre your intake has the more is good for your system (i remember this ‘fibre’ term really was like a bootha sitting on my head throughout my pregnancy). Recently I tried a new style of making sorekayi palya from a book that my dad gifted me and felt it quite interesting with chapathi! Here’s how it goes – for all who have just tried the same monotonous style of lauki subzi, maybe you could give this a try J

Ingredients

Serves: 2

Sorekayi/bottle gourd chopped – 1 ½ cups

Cilantro – ¼ cup

Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp

Oil – 5tsp

Grated coconut – ½ cup

Green chillies – 2 or 3

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds –1tsp

Asafoetida – ¼ tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Plain yogurt ( i prefer onken smooth) – ½ cup

Salt to taste

Method

1. Grind together coconut, green chillies, fenugreek seeds, ginger, cilantro, mustard seeds and salt to a fine paste.
2. Heat oil in a pan and make the tempering with cumin seeds, turmeric, and asafoetida. To this add the chopped bottle gourd, cover and cook. Once the pieces are cooked well add the masala paste and yogurt and mix well.
3. Let this come to boil and then take it off from heat to serve it with hot rice or chapathi!

Bottle Gourd Kofta With Gravy