Cooking bottle gourd

Cup of Yum
1. Rinse and peel bottle gourd.
2. Then shred or grate the lauki and keep aside. You can use a food processor or a box grater. Aim for ¾ to 1 cup of grated bottle groud.
3. Now take the grated lauki and 1 to 1.25 cups water in a pan.
4. Stir very well and keep the pan on stove top. Then add salt.
5. Simmer and cook till the bottle gourd softens.

Straining

1. Strain the cooked bottle gourd in a sieve. Press with a spoon so that all the water is extracted from the cooked bottle gourd.
2. You can also press the lauki in your palms when the cooked lauki becomes warm or cools. For a quick method, just add the cooked lauki to a bowl of cold water. Then strain and squeeze them.
3. Use the strained water to add to dal (lentils) or to any vegetable recipe.

Making lauki ka raita

1. Whisk fresh chilled curd until smooth.
2. Add the cooked lauki and chopped green chilies.
3. Add the roasted cumin powder, a pinch of garam masala powder and black salt or regular salt.
4. Mix very well.
5. Serve immediately or chill (refrigerate) and serve later in a couple of hours. You can garnish with coriander leaves while serving.

Serving suggestions

1. Rice recipes: Lauki raita tastes good with a pulao, veg biryani and with any flavored or spiced rice varieties.
2. Lentils: It also pairs nicely with a side of dal tadka, masoor dal, moong dal or dal fry with some roti or steamed rice.
3. Vegetables: You can even serve it as a dipping sauce with vegetable crudités and even with snacks like pakoda or aloo tikki. As a side dish it tastes great with any North Indian vegetable dish or curry.
4. Paratha: You can serve any stuffed paratha with this raita.

Storage

1. Refrigerate the leftovers in a covered container only for a day. Lauki raita tastes best when freshly made and served.