Ingredients:

• Ingredients for kofta:
• 500 g lauki, peeled and grated
• 2 tbsp – besan / gram flour
• 2-3 – Green chillies
• A little grated Ginger
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp – Red Chilli powder
• A few finely chopped Coriander leaves
• Ingredients for gravy:
• 2 – medium sized onions, finely chopped
• 3 – medium sized tomatoes, grated / puree
• 2 – Green chillies
• A little grated Ginger
• 2-3 flakes – Garlic
• A few chopped Coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp – Red Chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp – Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp – coriander powder
• 1 tsp – Jeera powder
• 1 tsp – Garam Masala
• 2 sticks – Dalchini / Cinnamon
• 3-4 – Bay Leaves / tej patta
• 1 – big Cardamom / badi elaichi crushed
• 3-4 – Cloves
• oil for frying and cooking
• water that is extracted from Lauki and kept aside

Method:

1. Grate the lauki and squeeze out water from it completely. Store the water in a bowl separately.
2. To this grated lauki, add grated ginger, chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
3. Now add besan to bind and make round or oval balls. (You can apply oil to your palm before making balls to avoid koftas sticking to your hands.)
4. Deep fry the koftas to a golden brown colour.
5. Method For Gravy:
6. Heat 3-4 tbsps of oil in a heavy bottom vessel.
7. Put dalchini, crushed elaichi, tej patta and cloves and let it splutter in oil, then add green chillies, garlic, ginger and onions and cover the vessel for a few minutes on medium flame.
8. Keep stirring in between and cook till onions turn brown in colour and get blended well.
9. Now add tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chilli, jeera and coriander powders and mix well.
10. Cover the vessel again.
11. Keep stirring at intervals and check if the gravy is even and well blended.
12. You can add the extracted water from lauki now and let the gravy boil.
13. Sprinkle garam masala.
14. Before serving, add the koftas and garnish with coriander leaves.

Recipe courtesy of Arti Advani