I keep searching ways to incorporate healthy vegetables in my food and Lauki or Bottlegourd is one such vegetable. Bottlegourd is a versatile vegetable, it can be made into a sabji/curry, koftas, pakodas, parathas, raita, or Muthia/snacks.

This recipe is a famous Gujrati recipe and i love the slight sweet, slight spicy and slight tangy taste. Bonus point….it is steamed and tempered, so very low on calories.

We will need

Ingredients:.

Lauki/ Bottlegourd: 2 cups(grated).

Onion: 1/4th cup (grated)

Green chilies: 3 long minced

Ginger: 1/2 inch minced

Hara dhaniya/coriander leaves: Some sprigs (make a paste of green chilies,ginger and coriander leaves)

Wheat flour: 1 cup

Suji: 3/4 cup

Gram flour/besan/chickpea flour: 3/4 cup

Saunf/fennel seeds: 1 tsp

Salt: to taste

Sugar: 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice: 1 lemon

Red chili powder: 1 tsp or as much as required

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Hing/asafoetida: 1/4 tsp

Baking soda/Eno: 1 sachet (baking soda: 2-3 pinches)

For Tempering : Mustard seeds 1 tsp, Sesame seeds 1 tsp, Curry leaves 4-5

Directions: Grate the Bottlegourd and onion and strain out or squeeze the juice by putting it in a strainer. Add the flours( wheat, suji and chickpea), add all masalas, lemon, saunf, green paste of coriander, chilies and ginger, salt and sugar. Mix well and form a dough, use the juice strained out in the previous step if required. Use oil to make the dough more workable. Now make small logs and keep aside.

Take an idli steamer and smear some oil on the container, put the logs in, cover and steam for a good 30 minutes or until done. Check with a skewer.

Cool down and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Take a griddle and add some oil, heat and place the muthias and cook till crispy on one side, turn and repeat with the other side. Now in the same griddle, put a tsp of oil and crackle some mustard seeds, til (sesame seeds) and chopped curry leaves. Take the muthias and toss with the tempering.

Sprinkle some chaat masala and enjoy with Hot tea or as is.

Tagged: gujrati snacks, healthy snacks, Lauki Muthia, lauki snacks, nashta, steamed snacks