Bottle gourd Kurma is a healthy curry recipe made with the bottle gourd (aka Lauki, Dudhi, Doodhi, Ghiya) cooked together in an aromatic spicy kurma or korma masala made of coconut, cashews, and other spices in the Instant Pot pressure cooker or Stovetop. Vegan, Gluten-free, and Keto Friendly.

There are many names for Bottle Gourd. In some other Indian languages, it's also called lauki, dudhi, ghiya, sorekai, sorakaya. In other countries, they are also known as Cucuzza, Calabash, Opo Squash.

You may like other Indian Lauki Recipes from my blog Lauki ki Sabji, Lauki Chana Dal, Bottle Gourd Paratha, Lauki Soup, Lauki Raita.

This Bottle Gourd Korma recipe is Keto or Low Carb. If you are on Keto Diet, replace cashews with almonds while making coconut cashew paste, or skip this recipe.

If you are on a Keto or Low Carb Diet. Check out Keto Indian Food Recipes Collection.

What is Kurma?

Kurma, alternatively known as “korma”, “khorma”, or “qorma”, is a dish originating from Central Asian culinary traditions. Kurma is a curry made using vegetables or meat along with yogurt, coconut, spices, and nut or seed paste. Based on the regions, the ingredients used to make the kurma recipe are different.

Today I have shown the south Indian version of kurma, where I have used coconut and cashew nuts as the base. It is made by using yogurt or curd in some regions instead of coconut.

Also, check out the Indian stovetop pressure cooker bottle gourd curry recipe instructions below for those who do not have an Instant Pot.

How to make Bottle Gourd Kurma Recipe in Instant Pot

Wash Bottle Gourd, peel the skin, deseed if any, and cut into ½ inch pieces.

Grind coconut, cashews, cloves, cinnamon to a smooth paste.

step to grind coconut and cashews collage

Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil to the POT. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

Next, add ginger-garlic paste, and green chiles. Saute for a few seconds.

step to saute cumin seeds and ginger garlic collage

Add onions and saute until onions turn light brown.

Next, add chopped tomatoes, spices like red chili powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and cook till they turn soft.

step to cook tomatoes with spices collage

Then add the water and deglaze the pot to remove any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Add in the diced bottle gourd, ground coconut-cashew paste, salt, and mix well.

step to add coconut paste and lauki collage

Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 3 minutes.

Once the pot beeps do a NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR).

Remove the lid away from you, add lime juice, and garnish with coriander leaves. Mix well.

Lauki Kurma recipe is ready, serve hot with pooris, chapatis, roti & parathas.

bottle gourd curry in instant pot insert garnished with cilantro

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method

Follow the same steps, close the lid, place a whistle, and cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame. The bottle gourd Kurma recipe is ready to serve.

What to serve with Bottle Gourd Korma?

Serve Bottle gourd Kurma or korma with poori or even roti, chapati, paratha, or basmati rice.

Tips & Variations

You can add Roasted Bengal Gram/fried gram/putani or poppy seeds while grinding instead of cashew nuts. It also helps to make the gravy thick. But I like adding cashews because it would give a nice creamy texture (and increase Calories) and thickness to the kurma/curry.
Adjust the consistency of the Kurma by adding the required amount of water.
You can use ½ cup of full-fat thick coconut milk if you do not have grated coconut.
You can also add ½ cup of fresh or frozen peas, it makes the dudhi kurma recipe more tasty and healthy.
You can replace the Bottle gourd with the vegetable of your choice like beetroot, chow-chow, ridge gourd, etc.

More Instant Pot Curry recipes

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