Lauki Kofta or Ghiya ke Kofte is a delicious popular Indian dish with tender, melt-in-mouth bottle gourd fritters (or dumpling) served over zesty, flavoursome tomato gravy. The kofte can be enjoyed as snack with ketchup, chutney or as main course with gravy.
Though traditionally lauki kofte are deep fried, but in this post I have shared two non-deep fried cooking methods for making them healthier & low oil – air fryer & appe pan. With either of the methods, you can make yummy kofte at home in few teaspoons of oil. The recipe is vegan, vegetarian, gluten free & has no onion no garlic.
Bottle gourd is known by different names like Ghiya, Lauki, Dudhi, Doodhi, Indian squash, Calabash or Long Melons. It belongs to the gourd (Curcurbitaceae) family which also includes cucumber, pumpkin, ash gourd, bitter gourd (karela), melons and squashes like zucchini.
During my initial days in Hyderabad after marriage, when managing kitchen & home was all new for me, I went for grocery shopping and bought bottle gourd along with other veggies. While coming out of the store as I was just quickly going through the bill I noticed ‘Kaddu’ in it, which is the hindi name for ‘Pumpkin’ in North India. I went back to the billing counter, tried explaining that I have not bought pumpkin and that there is some mistake in the bill.
The guy at the counter (seemingly irritated from my rant) searched my shopping bag briefly, pulled out lauki from it, & remarked “Madam, kaddu liya to hai aapne! (Madam see you have bought bottlegourd). That day I got to know that bottle gourd is also called Kaddu in some regions of India. Everyday you get to learn something new..Isn’t it?
Due to its high water content and low calories, lauki or ghiya is often recommended to include in weight loss diet also. Apart from savoury recipes like curry, sabji, gravy, sambar (Indian vegetable stew), it can also be used in sweet recipes like Lauki Ka Halwa (Pudding).
Ingredients you’ll need:
You will need handful of simple ingredients from your kitchen to quickly make this delicious lauki kofta curry –
Bottlegourd – Always pick fresh, wrinklefree and slightly tender lauki to make kofte. It should be firm but not too hard. Before you proceed with the recipe, peel and cut a small piece out of it to taste as it should not be bitter. If you live somewhere where it is not easily available, you can simply swap it with zucchini.
Besan / Chickpea Flour – We will use besan or gram flour as binding agent in this recipe. It is a naturally gluten free, high protein flour made with chana dal. It absorbs all excess moisture from ghiya and at the same time helps it to bind with spices & herbs.
Spices – The kofta mixture is lightly seasoned with red chilli powder, garam masala and salt. You can adjust the spiciness as per your preference. Skip adding green chillies if making for kids.
Tomatoes – You will need fresh tomatoes only if you are planning to make a gravy to serve with koftas. I have made the tomato gravy without onion or garlic, however if you wish you can include them.
Oil – You can use any cooking oil like sunflower, olive oil or desi ghee to cook kofte. Though I have shown air fryer & appe pan method but they can be deep fried also.
Serving ideas:
You can serve these soft, flavourful, lauki kofta balls as snack or starter with ketchup, dips or chutney like cilantro mint chutney. The second way is to pair them with tomato gravy & serve with roti, naan, paratha or steamed rice for a complete meal.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- Bottlegourd / Lauki (grated) – (2 + 1/2) cups
- Besan / Chickpea Flour – 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
- Green Chilli (finely chopped) – 1
- Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp (to Taste)
- Oil – 1 to 2 tbsp
- For gravy:
- Fresh Tomatoes – 3 medium
- Green Chilli – 1
- Ginger – 1 inch piece
- Ghee or Oil – 1 + 1/2 tbsp
- Cumin seeds (Jeera) – 1/2 tsp
- Asafoetida (Heeng) – A pinch
- Red Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric Powder (Haldi) – 1/4 tsp
- Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
- Garam Masala – 1/4 tsp
- Sugar – 1/4 tsp (optional)
- Salt – 1 tsp (to taste)
- Cream / Malai / Coconut Milk – 2 tbsp
- Water – 3/4 cup
- Coriander (chopped)- 2 tbsp (for garnishing)
Directions:
Step 1:
Wash & pat dry the bottle gourd. Chop off the top & bottom part. Peel it and then cut into 2 halves.
Step 2:
Grate the pieces using a manual grater or food processor. If you are using manual grater, use the side with big holes (as you can see in the pic below). Discard the core part if the seeds are too thick & big.
Step 3:
Squeeze the excess water from shredded lauki. You can do so in two ways – One way is to wrap it in a clean kitchen cloth & then twist the cloth, so that excess water is drained out. Second way is to take small portions & press them between your palms to drain the water.
(Note: Be gentle at this step, as we just want to remove only the excess water content without leaving it too dry. You can use the leftover juice in kneading dough or in gravy.)
Step 4:
Add besan (or chickpea flour), green chillies, spices and salt to the shredded ghiya. Start by adding 1/4 cup besan first and then add more if required. Mix well till the mixture binds together & you get a dough like consistency.
Step 5:
Set the air fryer for preheating on 180°C (360°F) for 4-5 minutes. By the time it is preheating let’s move to the next step.
Step 6:
Rub oil on your palms and brush some oil on a plate (in which you will be keeping the kofte after shaping). Divide the mixture in 9-10 equal portions and make smooth balls out of them.
How to make lauki kofta in air fryer?
- Once the air fryer is preheated, brush some oil on its basket & place a perforated parchment paper in it (to prevent kofta from sticking). If the parchment paper, does not have holes make some using toothpick or skewers for air circulation.
- Carefully transfer the lauki kofta in air fryer basket while leaving space between them. Generously brush oil over them using a silicon brush.
- Air fry at 180°C (360°F) for 10-12 minutes first & then at 200°C for 2-3 minutes (till you get golden brown colour). Do flip the balls after half time and brush more oil to get even colour on all sides.
Delicious lauki kofte are ready!! You can enjoy them with ketchup / chutney or pair with tomato gravy (The recipe for gravy is discussed below after appe pan steps).
Appe Pan Method:
I tried this same recipe in appe pan and it turned out good in it as well. Prepare the kofta balls as explained above and then instead of cooking them in air fryer, follow the steps below:
- Brush some oil inside appe pan and heat it on medium-low flame for 2-3 minutes. When the pan is slightly hot, transfer the kofta balls in it. Let them cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes.
- Once they are golden brown from bottom, carefully rotate them with the help of a knife or skewer to cook from other side as well. Drizzle some oil or ghee in the gap between koftas & appe pan cavities. Repeat till they are cooked from all sides.
For Gravy:
Step 1:
Add tomatoes, ginger & green chilli (sliced & deseeded) to a blender jar and blend till you get smooth puree. Keep aside.
Step 2:
Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds (jeera), asafoetida (heeng) & saute for 10-15 seconds till spices release their aroma (If you want to add onion / garlic, add at this step : 2 to 3 minced garlic cloves & 1 finely chopped medium onion. Saute till onions turn translucent.)
Step 3:
Add tomato puree which we prepared in step1. Let it cook on medium flame while stirring in between. When it starts to thicken up, add red chilli, turmeric, coriander powder to it. Mix well. Let the masala cook on low-medium flame till it releases its fat. Slow down the flame.
Step 4:
Add 3/4 cup water to the mixture above and cook till the gravy begins to slightly thicken up. Switch off the flame after this. Add cream or coconut milk & mix well. Add salt, garam masala and mix once again. Taste and adjust salt or spices as per your taste. If the gravy tastes sour, add little bit sugar.
Step 5:
Add the ghiya kofta to this gravy, mix gently & simmer for 2-3 minutes to absorb flavour. Garnish with some freshly chopped coriander leaves & enjoy with roti, paratha or naan.
Tips:
- Do not add too much of besan (gram flour) while making kofta mixture as otherwise they will turn out dense. It should be just enough to bring the ingredients together.
- To make the gravy creamier & thicker, you can blend 8-10 cashews (soaked in hot water for 10 min) and add them in step 4.
- Quickly make the koftas after adding salt as bottle gourd tends to release water with time, making the mixture sticky & wet.
- You can store leftover lauki kofta curry in an airtight container in fridge for upto 2 days. Heat in microwave or in a pan on stovetop before serving. If the gravy becomes thick, add 1-2 tbsp water before reheating.
Pin for later:
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(P.S: The recipe was originally published on 13th June’2019 and has been updated with better recipe, tips and images.)
If you try making lauki ke kofte in air fryer & share pics on social media, then don’t forget to tag us on Facebook, Instagram or use #kuchpakrahahai.
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