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I am sure you must have come across people who constantly fish for opinions. “Should I do this?”, “What do you think about this?”, “Do you think this suits me?” The first few times it’s endearing, and then it starts to get annoying. “I see a head on your neck, don’t you have a functioning brain?” You want to hurl back the questions. Whenever I see such fishing activity in virtual world, I wonder whether this coquettish routine is a clever manipulation for comments or a confused cry for help. Whatever the reason might be, it is always better to avoid such people who act like they need to conduct focus groups for everything.
When it comes to cooking, here is a recipe that doesn’t need a focus group to know it tastes good. Well, the recipe is lauki-chole, and it has silk like lauki also known as bottle gourd and smooth tasting chickpeas. Chickpeas are one legume that can stand on their own in taste department. They can pamper other ingredients without pandering to them. That’s a good company to have.
Bottle Gourd (Lauki, Sorakaya, Dudhi), Chickpeas and Tomato
Recipe:
(for two, for two meals)
1 tablespoon – ghee
1 onion- finely chopped
4 tomatoes – finely chopped
1 small bottle gourd (lauki, Dudhi, Sorakaya), about 6-8″
3 cups chickpeas, pre-soaked in water
1 tablespoon chana masala powder (homemade or store-bought)
Chilli powder, turmeric, salt, and lemon juice – to taste
1 tablespoon – kasuri methi
Cook chickpeas to tender in salted water. Drain. Separate about half cup and puree to fine, for a low-calorie chole thickener.
Lightly scrape the bottle gourd’s (lauki) skin, cut to middle lengthwise. Scoop the seeds out and then cut the white part to bite-sized cubes.
Heat ghee in a big pot. Add onions and tomatoes. Saute to soft mush. Add the cubed bottle gourd. Saute to tender. Add the chickpeas and the chickpea paste. Also stir in the spices – chana masala powder, chilli, turmeric powders, and salt. Add about a cup of water. Mix well. Simmer, covered for about 15 to 20 min. At the end, sprinkle the kasuri methi and lemon juice. Mix and serve right away.
I like chole. The chickpeas in chole are good with vegetable combination, and they make filling meal with minimum effort. This type of vegetable chole satisfies any grain – rice, chapati, pasta, millet and even the toasted bread.
Lauki-chole with Rice, Lemon and Pickled Pepper ~ Meal Today
Lauki in Ayurveda, Lauki at backyard garden
Bindiya’s Kashmiri recipe with lauki
Indira
Lovely looking dish. But somehow amma doesn’t like sorakay and hence we never make it. Would love to try this version. BTW are u and Ayurveda doctor Indira?
Comment by Nirmala — January 17, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Very interesting recipe. I am always on the lookout for new things to do with the same veggies, so lauki chole is a new combi to me…
Coincidentally, I had come across this nice recipe for chickpea cutlets just before reading this! Thought you and your readers may find it interesting too. http://www.chow.com/recipes/11364
Comment by apu — January 17, 2008 @ 10:37 pm
Have never thought of combining veggies and chana… thanks for the great idea 🙂
Comment by Raaga — January 17, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
I am not surprised that the constant questioning might get annoying after a time, Indira. Some need reassurance more than others… I’m often one who needs (likes?) reassurance… eek! 😉
It’s been a bit of a crazy beginning to 2008, so I haven’t been blog-hopping much. I need to read up here. Sugar art looks lovely 🙂
Comment by Linda — January 17, 2008 @ 11:52 pm
Hi,
I love your website. What vegetables could I use in place of a bottle gourd?
Lisa
Comment by Lis — January 18, 2008 @ 7:27 am
Clever Combination Indira! Looks delicious!
Comment by Latha — January 18, 2008 @ 8:41 am
I love Beans veggie combo too much , and here I got another yummy recipe for that. Thanks for sharing Indira 🙂 .
I would be glad if you can Participate in Republic day event we have . I wish all our bloggers, specially Indian buddies around here to be a part in celebration.
Thanks 🙂
-Pooja
Comment by Pooja — January 18, 2008 @ 9:27 am
I just know 2 recipes with bottle gourd and u have added another recipe. sure will make it. thank u.
Comment by chandana — January 18, 2008 @ 10:03 am
Had tried ur baigan chole recipe. it tasted wonderful. This is another innovative recipe. great idea to combine chole with vegetables.
Comment by vimmi — January 18, 2008 @ 11:49 am
Looks like a wonderful combination Indira. Haven’t tried chickpeas with any other veggies except potatoes.
Comment by anusriram — January 18, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
i saw your photo gallery and those photos look so professional. Wow! maybe you or vijay should write an article about tips for taking good photos
Comment by sowhatsnewtoday — January 18, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
Very different recipe …..Thanks for sharing
Comment by Deepa — January 18, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
made this curry today…as i was wondering about what to do with the 2 gourds i bought last week and with some left over chickpeas that i got from tambulam ( remember the sankrathi festivties..)..
so this recipe just came handy..thanks indira. it turned out good..mine was little dilute than what Indira showed..
Comment by R — January 18, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
Hmm. this looks delicious. The only recipe I do with Sorakaya is veg.soup. But this combination appears interesting. Shall try it for sure.
Comment by Uma — January 18, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Thank you all for saying yallo to this lauki chole.
You are lucky Nirmala. See my amma not only likes and she also grows bottle gourd at backyard. You can imagine the battles she had wage for us to eat bottle gourd when we were children.:)
I wish I had studied Ayurveda.
Hi Apu: Thanks for sharing the cutlet link.
Linda, hope you are feeling better now. I read that weather has been terrible at northeast.
Lis: Click on chickpea category, you can find several chickpea-vegetable combinatons.
Pooja, thanks for invite. Republican day parade, it would be my pleasure to participate.
R: Thanks for trying out and letting me know. Glad to read that you found this recipe good.
Comment by Indira — January 18, 2008 @ 10:27 pm
I was thrilled to see this recipe since I had all the ingredients at home to prepare at the time and it came out really good. Thanks Indira. My only variation was I added 1 capsicum in addition to the rest of the ingredients. I think the flavor changed slightly but I liked it. 🙂
Comment by Shreya — January 20, 2008 @ 6:25 am
I tried this recipe last evening, it came out delicious!!! My hubby finished 2 bowls of this dish with rice. He loved it soooo much that he asked me to make this dish often.
Comment by Shakta K — February 4, 2009 @ 1:51 pm