Beyond Soups & Sabzis: 7

Innovative Lauki Recipes

For Everyday Cooking

In the famous rom-com The Holiday, a character tells one of the female leads that she is a leading lady, but for some reason she behaves like a best friend. If the movie were adapted for the culinary world, that would be the dialogue reserved for lauki. Here’s a vegetable used only in select sides, when it is fit enough to be a leading lady, i.e. a multipurpose vegetable. Don’t be confused. Just read ahead for innovative lauki recipes that go beyond soups and simple sabzis.

Lauki, or bottle gourd, is high in water content (96%) and thus excellent for summers and humid monsoon seasons. It is also rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B, sodium, iron, and potassium. And it can be used in parathas to make sweet, crispy, and low-calorie flatbreads. The lauki paratha recipe is fairly straightforward. Just lightly sauté the lauki with basic spices before using it as a stuffing to ensure it doesn’t make the dough shaggy. The rest is the same as for all parathas—stuff, roll, and roast on a tawa.

Muthiya is a Gujarati snack that can either be fried or steamed. Lauki muthiya, also called Dudhi Na Muthiya (Dudhi is Gujarati for lauki), is a steamed, nutritious lauki recipe made by mixing grated bottle gourd with wheat flour, besan, sooji, and spices. Just be sure to squeeze out as much water as you can, since lauki has high water content. The mix is then steamed and tempered with curry leaves and mustard seeds. And no, this isn’t dhokla; not only is muthiya denser, but it also does not require a fermented batter like dhokla. 

One of the simplest lauki recipes, perfect for hot summer days, is lauki ka raita. Now, unlike a simple mint or cucumber raita, lauki can’t be used raw here. Raw lauki can have a tough, fibrous texture, a bitter taste, and is harder to digest. However, cooking it is not time-consuming. Simply wash the lauki, peel the skin, and grate it. Now, boil or steam the grated lauki in a small amount of water for about 4-6 minutes, or pressure cook for 1–2 whistles until soft. Drain any excess water, let it cool completely (so it doesn't curdle or warm the yoghurt), and gently squeeze out extra moisture before mixing it into your whisked curd. Add basic raita masala or spices and enjoy with biryani, paratha, or pulao. 

A beloved Bengali recipe, lau chingri, is proof that simple cooking can and will yield delicious results. Chingri refers to small prawns, a common item in Bengali kitchens, while lau means lauki. The dish is a simple stir-fry. The prawns are marinated and flash-fried, while small pieces of lauki are sautéed with basic spices in ghee. Once the lauki softens, it’s mixed with the prawns, sugar, salt, and ginger paste. Finally, a slurry of atta and water is added, and the whole mixture is cooked on low heat until it reaches a lightly mushy texture. Lau chingri is usually served with hot rice.

Few vegetables can confidently appear in both the savoury and dessert sections of a menu, like lauki. Much like the famous gajar ka halwa, the lauki halwa recipe begins by grating the vegetable, but don’t let that dissuade you because the grating is worth the result. The grated lauki is then sautéed in ghee until most of its moisture evaporates before milk, sugar, cardamom, and nuts are added. Everything is cooked together until the mixture thickens into a rich, creamy halwa. 

Some pairings simply make sense, like Batman and Robin or chai and pakoras. Lauki and chana dal belong on that list too. The bottle gourd softens into the creamy lentils, absorbing all the spices to create a comforting, protein-rich curry that's light enough for everyday meals. Pressure cook soaked chana dal with chopped lauki until tender, then finish with a tempering of cumin, ginger, tomatoes, and everyday spices. Pair it with hot rotis or steamed rice.

If you've only ever associated chutneys with coriander, mint, or coconut, this one's going to surprise you. Lauki ki chutney is smooth, mildly sweet, and packed with flavour despite using simple ingredients. Cook chopped lauki until soft, then blend it with roasted peanuts or coconut, green chillies, garlic (optional), and lemon juice. Finish with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves before serving. It pairs beautifully with idlis, dosas, parathas, and even simple rice.

The best part about lauki is that you can incorporate it into many dishes you consume day in and day out, like bhaji (in pao bhaji), handvo, thepla, koftas, aloo sabzi, etc. It does not impact the overall taste but provides nutrition, structure, and hydration. It’s actually a travesty that the world has been sitting on the multifaceted use of this simple bottle gourd. It’s time to take it out of the world of sabzis and soups and let it shine across dishes.