The lau or the bottle gourd (calabash) is a very versatile vegetable of the Bangladesh kitchen. This would be fairly common in the sumer months when various kinds of gourds are aplenty. Rummaging through the fridge, I came across half of a gourd that I had set aside. The other half went into a shrimp dish (recipe to follow anon). This half needed to be dealt with quickly and I decided to cook up a simple but tasty traditional bhaji.
Ingredients
- 1 medium lau or bottle gourd
- 2 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 2 green chillies, slit into halves lengthwise
- 1 inch finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 clove of finely chopped garlic
- 1/2 tspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 tspoon coriander powder
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 cilantro finely choppes
- salt to taste
Steps
- Peel and then slice the gourd into very thin slices
- Heat the oil in a frying pan
- When hot, add the cumin seeds and the green chillies, until the seeds start to splutter
- Add the in the ginger and stir fry for a minute or two
- Add the gourd, give it a stir and then cook covered over medium head for about 5 minutes
- Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and 1/4 cup of water and mix everything up
- Cook another 5 minutes or until the gourd is tender
- Add he chopped cilantro and serve
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