We love eating Lauki or Bottle gourd as a subzi or as part of Aviyal or Sambar etc. but never raw. I googled the recipe for Lauki Raita as I was planning to make Tawa Pulao with the leftover rice from yesterday. I found an interesting recipe and converted it to a salad recipe.
Here is my recipe for the Bottle Gourd Salad
- 1 tender Bottle Gourd/Lauki, peeled and grated
- 1 Cucumber, peeled and grated
- 1 TSP each of Pepper powder, Anardana, Dry Ginger powder
- 1 green chilli or a few Jalapeno peppers
- 1 TBSP toasted sesame seeds
- Two ladles of curd/peanut curd
- Salt to taste. I use black salt.
Mix all the above and your tasty salad is ready.
I made the Tawa pulao and used this salad as the “raita”. Fabulous combination and very easy to make. Many children and even some adults refuse to eat Lauki/Bottle gourd but its one of the most nutritious vegetables available. In South India you usually get really large, mature bottle gourd and I am not sure if that can be made into a salad. In Delhi NCR, you get really tender bottle grouds that have almost no seeds. My earliest memories of Lauki was my dad’s uncle in Pune steaming them for his dogs as they wouldn’t eat meat at home. He said the bottle gourd was a great substitute for meat !!
The recipe that I used for reference – Lauki Raita Recipe
The other curry that I make using Lauki – Lockdown Food #7