Does the idea of something made with doodhi or lauki (green bottle gourd) scare you off or sound awfully boring?
It needn't.
Well-cooked doodhi is the base for a number of delightful recipes. For instance: Jayanti Soni's Doodhi Ke Gatte
A classic Rajasthani dish, it can be had as a snack or a meal -- as steamed dumplings with buttermilk-gram flour Dahi Kadhi or with green chutney and chai.
Jayanti, who grew up in Bhinmal, Jalore district, specialises mainly in traditional Rajasthani cooking. Her tips: She says the timing for when to add every ingredient, the cooking time for the ingredients in a dish and identifying when each stage of cooking for a recipe is done is critical in order to get the dish to turn out just right.
She prefers cooking with desi ghee, peanut/groundnut oil and mustard oil. Rajasthani preparations call for ghee usually.
Jayanti's children -- Riddhi is 14 and Dhairya is 19 -- prefer to eat new things and Jayanti rustles up Chhole-Bhature, idlis and dosa for them. They like cheese a lot so she has been experimenting with adding cheese and paneer to various recipes like samosas or coming up with special cheese and vegetable sandwiches.
Also try her recipes for Gatte Ki Sabji or Vrat Pulau.
Photographs: Dhairya Soni
Doodhi Ke Gatte
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 250 gm aata or wheat flour
- 250 gm doodhi or gheeya or lauki or bottle gourd
- 3 tsp oil + 1½ tbsp + extra for greasing
- ¼ + 1½ tsp salt or as per taste
- 2 tsp chilly powder
- 2 tsp coriander or dhania powder
- 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ½ tsp jeera or cumin seeds
- 1 tsp saunf or fennel seeds
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 6-8 pods garlic, finely chopped
- 1-inch piece ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro
- 12-15 curry leaves
- A lime wedge
Method
- Peel and grate the doodhi with a large-holed grater or kadukas.
Add the wheat flour and ¼ tsp salt.
Add ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1½ tsp red chilly powder, 1½ tsp coriander powder, saunf and 3 tsp oil.
Add only half the quantity of chopped ginger and garlic.
Mix well and knead into a dough.
Don't add water while kneading the dough.
Initially the dough may seem too dry, but keep kneading and it will become smooth (please see the video below).
- Heat an idli steamer filled with with an inch of water over medium heat.
Add a slice of lime so the inside of the steamer doesn't turn black.
Grease a flat plate that can be easily placed inside the steamer.
If you don't have an idli steamer use a heavy-bottomed pot and use a plate that can be placed on top of a grate or an inverted flat steel katori or bowl so the plate is just above the level of the water.
- Divide the dough into 6-7 portions.
Roll out each portion into a cylinder with flat ends.
Place the greased plate into the steamer and transfer the rolls onto it.
Cover and let it steam for 2-3 minutes.
Open and check if the rolls are cooked by cutting it.
If it sticks to the knife, it's raw.
Give it another few minutes to cook.
Take off heat and cut the rolls into small pieces.
- Heat the remaining oil in a kadhai or frying pan over low heat.
Add the jeera and the rai.
When it splutters, add the remaining chopped ginger and garlic.
Add the curry leaves and the chopped green chillies.
Let it fry for a minute and then add the steamed gatte.
Add the remaining turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder.
Add 1½ tsp salt and mix well.
Add the chopped coriander leaves and stir.
Take off heat and serve hot with Jayanti's Dahi Kadhi recipe below or as a snack with green chutney.
Editor's Note: Monsoon weather brings its share of illnesses and since the preparation of Doodhi Ke Gatte requires use of your hands and several surfaces, Jayanti warns that hygiene is important -- do wash your hands several times while cooking and keep surfaces clean and fly-free.
For Jain Doodhi Ke Gatte skip the ginger and garlic. Use 1 tsp of saunth or dried ginger powder instead.
For a gluten-free version use besan or chickpea flour rather than wheat flour.
Try Jayanti's Dahi Kadhi, recipe given below or Anagha Gade's recipe for Maharashtrian Dahi Kadhi.
Or Bethica Das' Chicken Kofta Yoghurt Curry.
If having the Doodhi Ke Gatte as a snack, make one of Mini Ribeiro's Six Types of Chutneys or Lahu Kapduskar's the green chutney recipe in his Idli Sandwich preparation.
WATCH: How to make Doodhi Ke Gatte.
Video: Dhairya Soni
Dahi Kadhi
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 200 ml buttermilk or yoghurt mixed with water
- 50 gm besan or gram flour
- 2-3 tsp ghee
- Pinch of hing or asafeotida
- ¾ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ½ tsp methi or fenugreek seeds
- 1-inch dalchini or cinnamon, broken into two pieces
- 2-4 cloves
- 6-8 black peppercorns
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp chilly powder
- ¼ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- 1-2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro
- A sprig curry leaves
- 1½ cup water
Method
- In a bowl, whisk the besan with buttermilk (please see the video below).
Make sure there are no lumps.
Add the chilly powder, salt, turmeric powder and mix.
- Heat the ghee in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add the mustard seeds.
Add the fenugreek seeds, curry leaves.
Add the green chillies and the hing.
Mix.
Add the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon.
Add the buttermilk and besan mixture.
Pour in the water and keep stirring till the kadhi thickens.
Bring to a boil for 5-7 minutes and add the chopped coriander.
Take off heat and serve along with the Doodhi Ke Gatte.
Editor's Note: For a vegan version of Dahi Kadhi use vegan yoghurt or substitute the buttermilk with diluted coconut cream and add a squeeze of lime juice before taking off heat.
This Dahi Kadhi may also be eaten with hot rotis or steamed rice with papad and Rajesh Karkera's Crispy Pan-Fried Bhindi.
WATCH: How to make Kadhi
Video: Dhairya Soni
