Lightly seasoned with seeds and curry leaves this, Dudhi or bottle gourd or calabash raita is a quick and simple raita that can be enjoyed alongside your everyday meals or with roti (Indian Flatbread).
A healthy and delicious yogurt dip made using low-carb dudhi and gut-friendly yogurt/curd.
Raita is quite common in Indian cuisine. Raita is basically a side dish made using yogurt/curd along with flour dumplings, vegetables (cooked or uncooked), or fruits. The most common raita served is the boondi raita. Boondi is small gram flour balls or dumplings added to yogurt.
I love all kinds of raitas. Growing up as a child we always had some or the other in a week and at times the meal was only raita and roti. Yes, and I love that it was one of the most comforting meals for me.
Different Raita Recipes
I make different raitas and we generally never tempered it. It was always oil-free. I love to make boondi raita, bathua raita, cucumber raita, pudina raita, potato raita, protein-rich peanut raita and my latest addition of Nasturtium leaves raita from my homegrown Nasturtium leaves.
For the last few years as I explored different cuisines, I started tempering a few raita. This adds some flavor as well it helps soften some veggies too. This helps the fussy eaters eat some too.
Replacements for Dudhi/Lauki/Bottle Gourd
With tempering, I make carrots, pumpkins, and many different types. I was making this dudhi raita this time, and we loved it with some roti. Have made this many times, but never shared it.
There are multiple ways of making this dudhi raita. Few boil the grated dudhi and add it to the curd/yogurt. I prefer to do the tempering, add the grated dudhi, and cook it a little. By doing this I can cook the dudhi as much as I need to. This helps in maintaining the crunch in the vegetable and the raita.
Ingredients used in Doodhi Raita
The first main Ingredient is Doodhi or Dudhi or bottled gourd or calabash in English. One can replace this with zucchini, pumpkin, carrot, etc. Dudhi is peeled. grated and added to the raita. Dudhi is easily available in Asian Shops.
The second main ingredient is yogurt/curd. One can use store-bought yogurt. I like to use my homemade Instant Pot Yogurt for this.
Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chili and salt are used as seasoning and flavoring.
Oil is used for tempering and water is used to adjust the consistency if required.
Recipes with Dudhi or Lauki
With dudhi, one can make Dudhi kofta or fritters, Dudhi or Lauki Paratha, Lauki Chana Dal, a protein-rich dal, or this dessert Dudhi Halwa.
Dudhi or Bottle gourd or Calabash raita
Equipment
- Grator
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Bottle Gourd peeled and grated, around 2 inches bottle gourd
- 1 cup Yogurt / Curd
- ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 8-10 Curry Leaves
- 1-2 Green Chilli chopped, Optional
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- Salt to taste
- Water as required.
Instructions
- Sieve the 1 cup Yogurt / Curd so that you have a lump free yogurt mixture and keep it aside.
- In a pan add 1 teaspoon Oil.
- Once hot add the ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds and ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds and let it splutter.
- Once the seeds are done, add in the 8-10 Curry Leaves and 1-2 Green Chilli.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Saute it for 8-10 seconds.
- Now add the ½ Cup Bottle Gourd and mix.
- Add Salt and let the bottle gourd cook on slow to medium stirring in between.
- Cook it until they are slightly done.
- I like to cook it until they have a slight crunch and are not too mushy.
- Switch off and add yogurt to this.
- Mix it and Water to adjust the consistency.
- Once done remove the raita in a bowl and serve.
- One can enjoy this as is or refrigerate it to cool and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Measurements are a rough guideline; one can adjust as per taste.
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