Lauki Kala Chana

About Lauki Kala Chana

Ingredients

• Medium bottle gourd (lauki/doodhi) 1
• Black Bengal grams, soaked overnight and pressure cooked in 2 cups water 1 cup
• Oil 1½ tbsps
• Mustard seeds ½ tsp
• Asafoetida ¼ tsp
• Cumin seeds ½ tsp
• Curry leaves a few
• Large onion, finely chopped 1
• Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
• Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) 1 tbsp
• Garam masala powder 1 tsp
• Large tomatoes, chopped 3
• Jaggery, grated ½ tbsp
• Tamarind paste 1 tsp
• Large potato, boiled, peeled and roughly mashed 1
• Salt to taste
• Fresh mint sprigs to garnish

How to Make Lauki Kala Chana (Stepwise Photos)

Method

1. Trim the ends of bottle gourd and peel. Slit it length-wise in middle and scoop out the seeds and the surrounding flesh carefully so that you are left with two boats. Further cut them into 1 cm slices.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a flat non-stick pan, arrange bottle gourd slices in a single layer and cook them, turning sides, till they turn evenly golden brown on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
3. Heat ½ tbsp of oil in another non-stick pan, add mustard seeds and saute till they splutter. Add asafoetida, cumin and curry leaves and saute till cumin seeds change colour.
4. Add onion and saute on medium heat till golden. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, kasuri methi and garam masala and saute on low heat for 30 seconds.
5. Add tomato puree and mix well. Add jaggery and tamarind and mix well. Cook on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add cooked brown Bengal gram, fried bottle gourd slices and mashed potatoes and mix well.
7. Add salt and 1 cup water, mix well and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes till bottle gourd is fully done.
8. Transfer into a serving bowl, garnish with mint sprigs and serve hot.

Additional Tips and Tricks

About chef

Chef Shantanu Gupte

Chef Shantanu Gupte hosts the show Health Mange More on channel FOOD FOOD.

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Chaitrali Deshmukh

Thank you for the amazing instructions.

I have success w/ my dosa but does not last long stored in the refrigerator.

Maybe I am fermenting for too long, or add the salt before the rise?

I also was wondering if it is important to blend separately or can it be blended all together?

Reply

Chef Saransh Goila

Hi Chaitrali,
Yes, cut down the fermentation time and add salt only to the required portion at the time of making the dosa. Also storing in smaller containers just enough for a day helps. Once the batter in a larger container is disturbed (by stirring or scooping out a little etc), I feel it turns sour faster. You can blend them together if you want. But we do it separately because we want the dal batter to become fluffy and the rice batter slightly coarse. Fluffy dal batter makes the dosas light and coarse rice batter makes them extra crispy without making the dosas hard. Hope this helps