Summer Recipes : Dudhi / Bottlegourd Raita

Bottle Gourd is a boring vegetable, no doubt. There is hardly a person who loves it. It's one of those "damn! it's dudhi for lunch today" kind of vegetables, very difficult to glam up or make delicious. It has no flavour of its own, so when fried into a kofta or made into a spicy koottu, it is somewhat bearable. 

I like to give it the 'raita treatment' in summers. You can either grate it, microwave for a few minutes until cooked and then proceed with the raita or steam cook the cubes instead, like I have. Try and incorporate it in your diet if you are a weight watcher or on a low carb diet. It's a very low calorie, low-carb vegetable and you can make it work for your diet because it is filling. My lunch today was a super colourful rice with purple cabbage, spinach, carrots, potatoes, onions, sprouts and this raita paired along beautifully! Do give the boring old bottle gourd a chance :-)

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Bottle Gourd Raita

Bottle Gourd Raita
Serves 3-4


Ingredients
1 medium bottlegourd (~300-400 grams)
pinch of salt
400 grams fresh yogurt
2 tbsp fresh coconut
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green chillies
2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds and mustard seeds etc
few curry leaves
1/2 - 1 tsp black salt (kala namak) or regular salt
Garnish: Mint leaves, roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder

Directions
Peel and chop the bottle gourd into a small dice.
Either pressure cook it with a pinch of salt and very little water or steam it until cooked and soft.
Whisk the yogurt in a large bowl.
Grind the coconut, mustard seeds and chillies into a coarse paste.
Add to the yogurt.
Drain the cooked bottle gourd well and add to yogurt.
Check for salt and add accordingly.
In a small ladle, heat the oil and temper the mustard and cumin seeds along with curry leaves.
Add this to the raita. 
Remove into a serving bowl.
Garnish with mint leaves and a sprinkling of cumin and red chilli powder.

Why is this good for summers?
Yogurt, bottle gourd are both excellent summer foods. Cooling, low in calories and carbohydrates, keep  you filled up, hydrating and feeling light. The mint garnish further adds a cooling effect. It's easy to eat a bowl full of this for lunch or pair it with a pulao or salad.

Variations
Try the same with diced cucumbers or cooked pumpkin cubes.