Bottle Gourd Kurma

5 from 2 votes

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.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword bottle gourd curry, bottle gourd kurma, lauki kurma

Diet Gluten-Free, Keto, Low Carb, Vegan, Vegetarian

Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker, Stovetop

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 120kcal

Author Bhavana Patil

Equipment

Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

1 small lauki (bottle gourd) peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
2 green chiles finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1 large tomato finely chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon garam masala
¾ cup water
salt to taste
2 tablespoon cilantro (coriander leaves)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For Grinding

¼ cup coconut (fresh or frozen)
6-8 cashews or 2 teaspoon of poppy seeds
1 inch cinnamon
2 cloves
1 teaspoon saunf (fennel seeds) optional

Instructions

Wash Bottle Gourd, peel the skin, deseed if any, and cut into ½ inch pieces.
Grind coconut, cashews, cloves, cinnamon to a smooth paste.

Instant Pot Method:

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.
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.
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.
Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 3 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, do a NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR).
Remove lid away from you, add lime juice and garnish with cilantro. Mix well.
Lauki Kurma is ready, serve with hot with pooris, chapatis, roti & parathas.

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.

Notes

I have prepared this dish in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT.

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.
If you do not have grated coconut, you can use ½ cup of full fat thick coconut milk.
You can also add ½ cup of fresh or frozen peas, it makes the dudhi kurma recipe more tasty and healthy.
You can replace Bottle gourd with the vegetable of your choice like beetroot, chow-chow, ridge gourd, etc.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition