Recipe: Lauki Yakhni

A delicacy from Kashmir, prepared in a yogurt based gravy without onion and garlic.

Rachna's Kitchen

1. Peel and chop the bottle gourd into 1 inch size pieces. remove seeds if any.

2. Heat a pan with oil and fry the bottle gourd till they turn brown in colour. remove on an absorbent paper.

3. Grind the whole spices namely cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, seeds of black cardamom in a mortar and pestle. home-made garam masala is ready! keep aside.

4. Heat a pan with 2-3 tbsp oil. add cumin seeds, hing / asafoetida, ground garam masala. (you can alternatively use normal garam masala), turmeric powder, coriander powder. roast the spices for sometime.

5. Now, add red chilli powder and curd. continuosly mix all spices until it starts boiling.

6. Add fennel powder, ginger powder or ginger paste or grated ginger. once oil starts to seperate, it means the masala is ready!

7. Add 1/2 cup water or as per need. continuosly cook the gravy until it starts boiling.

8. Add salt to taste, chopped coriander leaves and fried bottle gourd. mix well. cover and cook for 3-4 minutes so that all pieces are mixed well with the masala.

9. Sabji is ready! transfer it in a serving bowl and serve it hot with roti, rice or parantha.