This soothing, comforting and healthy Bottle Gourd Curry or Lauki Curry is made with bottle gourd (opo squash) and spices in a coconut milk and yogurt base.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1.5 to 2 cup chopped bottle gourd ((lauki or ghia or dudhi or opo squash))
  • 1 cup Coconut Milk (Thick)
  • ½ cup yogurt ((plant based or dairy))
  • 2 to 2.5 cups water
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 1 green chili (- chopped)
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Method

Making bottle gourd curry

  1. Rinse and peel the bottle gourd and cut into small bite size pieces. Taste and check if the bottle gourd tastes bitter. If bitter, then trash it and do not use.
  2. Add the bottle gourd pieces, salt, curd, curry leaves, green chilies and water in a pan. Mix very well. You can even mix the curd well in the water first and then add bottle gourd pieces, salt, curry leaves and green chilies.
  3. Stir and cook without a lid on low to medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes or till the bottle gourd pieces are fully cooked.
  4. Add the coconut milk and simmer for a minute. Don't cook much as the coconut milk will curdle otherwise.

For tempering

  1. Heat oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
  2. Add the cumin seeds and fry for some seconds till the cumin seeds splutter.
  3. Pour this tempering mixture together with the oil on the bottle gourd curry.
  4. Stir and serve the Lauki Curry hot with steamed rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.