Lauki Raita| Lauki Raita Recipe| Bottle Gourd in Yogurt Dip
Summer! Summer! Summer! It is the time of year when our spirits are high and positivity is at its peak. It is the time for hiking, camping, rafting and fishing. We love this season as we do a lot of activities as a family.
The weather makes me so active. I love the sunlight till 9.00 PM and I get to do a lot of fun stuffs with my son. We were busy gardening on one weeknight and busy flying kite on another night. Our nights are busy. Cooking has to be fast as we are on a run all the time; be it his swimming class or library sessions or biking or just lazing around in the neighborhood park. Quick recipes means they are more accessible for everyone. It gets done faster and I serve them within 30 minutes from start to finish. I picked couple of small bottle gourds from Farmer’s market last Sunday to make kofta curry and raita.
Coming to today’s recipe, it’s a simple yogurt dish made with bottle gourd, simply called lauki raita in my native language. During summer, I love to cook with vegetables with high water content. Bottle gourd (lauki), cucumber and white pumpkin are my favorite summer vegetables and you can find them all the time in my fridge. This dish is essentially made with 5 main ingredients that requires less time in the kitchen (well, we will be microwaving the bottle gourd). This dish is a popular yogurt (check my easy homemade yogurt recipe) dip my mom would make in India.
The recipe is quite known there. So much so, you would also find lauki raita on restaurant menus. My mother would use grated raw green mangoes or cucumber. They can be used raw so feel free to alter the recipe as per the availability of ingredient. All you need is thick Greek yogurt, little milk or water, dash of cumin powder, salt, pepper and a whisk to bring them together. I served it with steamy white rice, pressure cooked Indian lentil curry (daahl), garlicky wilted spinach (quick stir fry) and a dash of ghee. This is our comfort meal on a weeknight. This dish can be eaten as a snack when on a weight loss journey. They are an ideal snack in South Beach Diet Phase 1 or even a perfect one for gestational diabetes. You can also serve this as a dip for pita chips or spicy chicken wigs.
Lauki Raita Recipe | Bottle Gourd in Yogurt Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup bottle gourd, grated (remove the skin and seeds)
- 1-2 tsp cumin powder
- 1.5 cups low fat or full fat Greek or any Indian yogurt
- 1 cup milk or water
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Roasted cumin seeds and cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Remove the skin of the bottle gourd. Cut them into half and scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Grate it and microwave on high for 5-8 minutes.
- Using a whisk, mix yogurt, milk or water, cumin powder, salt and pepper. Add more or less water to dilute the raita as per your liking.
- Garnish with choppe cilantro and roasted cumin seeds
