This is a simple recipe to enhance the taste of bitter gourd. Please try to use baby bitter gourds for this recipe.

Ingredients :

• 5 baby bitter gourds
• Pinch of Haldi powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Mirchi powder
• 1 teaspoon Dhania powder
• Pinch of hing
• Finely chopped Coriander leaves

Procedure :

1. Peal the skin of the bitter gourd to the extend you like. Slit and de seed the gourd, rub salt on the insides and let it rest for a few hours. In case you are using baby gourds then you need not marinate it for that long as they wont be very bitter.
2. Wash away the bitter saline water. Cut the gourd into semi-circular slices.
3. Heat oil and shallow fry the gourd slices.
4. Once done, take out the slices and in the remaining oil add haldi powder, mirch powder, dhania powder and hing. Stir for a minute and mix in the fried gourd pieces.
5. Mix well, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.

This is by nature one of the tastier gourds as compared to bottle gourd, bitter gourd and its other gourd counterparts. The natural taste of this vegetable is the best and hence it should not contain too many spices. Here is a simple recipe which gives you a delicious Snake Gourd sabzi.

Ingredients :

• 2 long, slim snake gourds
• 1 teaspoon rai
• 1 teaspoon jeera
• Pinch of Haldi powder
• 1 teaspoon dhania powder
• Pinch of hing
• Few curry leaves
• 1 green chilly
• Finely chopped Coriander leaves
• 1 tablespoon curds (optional)

Procedure :

1. Peal away the skin of the gourd well. Cut it into small cubes.
2. Heat oil. Add rai, jeera, curry leaves, slit green chilly and hing.
3. Add gourd cubes, haldi powder, dhania powder, salt and stir well. Cover and cook till done.
4. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Variation :

Once the sabzi is cool add a tablespoon of curds to get a delicious, semi-gravy dish to go with rice/rotis’.

This is for all those people who run away at the very thought of eating bottle gourd. Despite its nutritional value we tend to avoid it for its bland taste.

Lauki Ka Bharta is another dish invented by accident. About 6 years ago, I was cooking a meal for myself and my father when my mother was out of town. There was this bottle gourd at home and I simply didn’t know how to cook it. I remember mom telling me that it takes long to get done but I didnt have the patience to wait that long. So lauki ka bharta was created.

Surprisingly, it tasted well. My cook these days, makes it with a twist of his own which does justice to the original recipe.

Ingredients :

• 1 medium sized Lauki (Bottle Gourd)
• 1 teaspoon Rai
• 1-2 Green Chillies
• Few Curry leaves
• 2 Tomatoes
• 1 Onion
• 1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Haldi powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Mirchi powder (optional)
• 2 teaspoon Dhania powder

Procedure :

1. Pressure cook lauki. Mash and let it cool.
2. In a kadai heat oil. Add rai, chillies, curry leaves, onions and saute well.
3. Now add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and fry till they go brown.
4. To this add haldi powder, mirchi powder, dhania powder, salt and the mashed lauki.
5. Mix well, beating the lauki with your cooking spoon (poor lauki!)
6. Since the lauki is already cooked this dish is ready quickly. After the mixture comes together, turn off the heat, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.