Lauki kofta curry recipe is a delicious way to turn a simple vegetable like bottle gourd into something special.
Soft dumplings made from grated lauki are simmered in a spiced tomato-onion gravy, making this dish comforting and full of flavor.
So if you are craving something comforting and healthy?
Try this lauki kofta in tomato gravy, a flavorful Indian curry made with soft bottle gourd dumplings simmered in a spiced onion-tomato base. Perfect with rice or roti! (step-by-step-recipe-video-below)
About Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe:
Lauki kofta curry is a traditional North Indian vegetarian dish made from bottle gourd (lauki) koftas – small, spiced dumplings made from grated lauki and gram flour – cooked in a spiced tomato and onion gravy.
It is also known as ghiya kofta curry in Punjab and Haryana, and dudhi kofta curry in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The dish is light, mildly spiced, and commonly made in Indian home kitchens as an everyday meal.
This lauki kofta curry recipe is one of my all-time favorites. If you’ve ever enjoyed those soft, flavorful dumplings soaking in a rich curry, then you know what I mean.
Whether it’s banana kofta or lauki ke kofte (also called dudhi kofta in some regions), I simply love the feel of those little dumplings melting in the mouth with a spoonful of plain rice.
Maybe that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot for “badis” too – those sun-dried lentil dumplings we add to curries back home.
Koftas remind me of comfort food, something warm and homemade. And this bottle gourd kofta curry is a perfect example of that.
This curry is made with tender koftas of grated lauki (bottle gourd), lightly spiced and shallow-fried until golden.
Then they’re simmered in a mildly spicy, slightly tangy tomato-onion gravy. This version is lighter than traditional fried versions, making it a more healthy lauki kofta option.
While some people treat lauki as a boring vegetable, this dish proves otherwise. It turns a humble lauki ki sabji into something that feels festive and special.
So let us learn how to make lauki kofta in tomato gravy with my easy step by step recipe.
Lauki, Ghiya, Dudhi – All the Same Vegetable
If you grew up in North India, you probably know this vegetable as lauki. In Punjab and Haryana, the same vegetable is called ghiya.
In Gujarat and Maharashtra, it goes by dudhi. In English, it is bottle gourd. All of these refer to the same long, pale-green vegetable with a mild flavour and high water content.
So ghiya kofta curry and dudhi kofta curry are simply regional names for the same dish. The method, the spices, and the result are identical. If you are searching for ghiya ke kofte or dudhi kofta and landed here, you are in the right place.
I grew up calling it lauki in Bihar. My neighbour in Bangalore calls it sorakkai. Same vegetable, different kitchen, different name. That is how Indian cooking works.
Serving Suggestion:
Serve hot with plain basmati rice for a comforting meal
Pairs well with jeera rice or roti
Also great with mild pulao or paratha
Storage Suggestion:
Store the koftas and curry separately for best texture
Keep refrigerated in airtight containers
Use within 2 days; reheat gently before serving
Why Lauki is Good for You:
Lauki (bottle gourd) is one of those vegetables that home cooks have long trusted for its lightness and digestibility. It is about 92 percent water, which is why it is considered cooling and easy on the stomach. Here is what makes it nutritionally useful:
- Low in calories – roughly 14 to 17 calories per 100 grams
- High in water content – naturally hydrating
- Good source of dietary fibre – supports digestion
- Contains Vitamin C, Vitamin B, calcium, and iron in modest amounts
- Low in fat and sodium
This is also why lauki kofta is often made in Indian homes when someone is recovering from illness or needs a lighter meal. The koftas are soft, the gravy is mild if you want it to be, and the whole dish sits easy.
I want to be clear: I am a home cook, not a nutritionist. These figures are based on general nutritional data for bottle gourd, not a lab test on this specific recipe. If you have specific dietary needs, please check with a professional.
Pro Tips:
Choosing the Right Lauki:
Not every lauki will give you good koftas. A lauki that is too old or too large will have tough skin, hard seeds, and less moisture, which makes the koftas dense and difficult to shape.
Look for a lauki that feels firm but not woody. The skin should be smooth and pale green without many brown patches. When you press the skin with your fingernail, it should dent slightly, that is a sign it is still tender. Avoid any lauki that is very long and thick with a yellowish tint. Those are overripe.
Medium-sized lauki with thin skin and seeds that are still soft, those give you the best koftas. The grated flesh should smell faintly fresh, not sour.
Squeeze excess water from grated lauki before mixing into the batter. You can use that water for gravy.
Add koftas to the curry just before serving to keep them soft but intact
For extra richness, you can finish the curry with a spoon of cream
Why You Should Make This Recipe:
Delicious way to enjoy veg kofta curry
Great for lunchboxes or weekend meals
A comforting alternative to regular lauki ki sabji
Soft, melt-in-the-mouth koftas that even kids will love
A wholesome dish that turns everyday ingredients into something special
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Basic Ingredients Used to Make this Recipe:
Lauki / bottle gourd: For the best koftas, always use young, tender lauki (also known as dudhi or bottle gourd). Look for a medium-sized one with light green, smooth skin and no dark spots.
Avoid old or overripe lauki, as it becomes fibrous and watery with more seeds, which can affect the texture of the koftas.
Fresh lauki has just the right amount of moisture and soft flesh to bind easily with besan and absorb spices well.
Gram Flour (Besan): Works as a binder and adds a slightly roasted, nutty flavor to the koftas.
Spices: I have used spices like cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala. Each one adds depth, color, and warmth to the curry without overpowering the taste.
Onion & Tomato: These form the base of the curry and gives tanginess, and slightly sweetness to the curry.
Green Chilli, Ginger, and Garlic: Add sharpness, warmth, and classic Indian curry aroma.
Whole Spices (Bay Leaf, Black Cardamom, Cinnamon Stick): Infuse the curry with subtle, deep aromas.
Oil or Ghee: Helps bring out the flavors of the masala.
Chopped Coriander Leaves: Adds freshness and a burst of green at the end.
Water: Adjusts the thickness of the gravy to your liking.
How to Make Lauki Kofta Curry:
Preparing the Lauki
Start by peeling the lauki and grating it on the coarse side of your grater. Once grated, take the lauki in a clean muslin cloth or a thin kitchen towel and squeeze firmly.
You can squeeze with your hand also. Keep squeezing until very little liquid comes out. This step is not optional. Lauki holds a surprising amount of water, and if you skip this, the kofta mixture will be too wet to shape and the koftas will break apart in the oil.
Set the squeezed liquid aside, you will use it in the curry later, which means nothing goes to waste.
Making the Koftas
Transfer the squeezed lauki into a mixing bowl. Add the besan, red chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix everything together with your hands until the mixture comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough. It should hold its shape when you roll a small portion between your palms. If it feels too wet, add a little more besan, a teaspoon at a time.
Heat oil in a deep kadai over medium flame. To check if the oil is ready, drop a tiny piece of the mixture into it – it should rise to the surface within two to three seconds. Roll the lauki mixture into small, smooth balls, pressing gently so there are no cracks on the surface. Slide them into the oil in batches.
Do not crowd the pan. Fry on medium heat, turning gently, until the koftas are golden brown on all sides. This takes about eight to ten minutes per batch. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and rest them on a plate.
Making the Curry
In a separate pan, heat two tablespoons of oil over medium flame. Add the cumin seeds and let them sputter. Then add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and black cardamom. Give them thirty seconds in the oil before adding the chopped onion.
Cook the onion on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it turns a deep golden brown. This usually takes ten to twelve minutes and is worth the patience the colour of the onion determines the colour and depth of the finished curry.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for two minutes until the raw smell disappears. Pour in the tomato puree and the wet masala you mixed earlier. Stir everything together and cook on medium heat until the oil begins to separate from the masala at the edges of the pan.
This is the sign that the masala is properly cooked. Add the reserved lauki juice along with enough water to reach the consistency you want. Season with salt, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for ten minutes.
Combining and Serving
Turn the flame to low before adding the koftas to the curry. Slide them in gently and let them rest in the gravy for two to three minutes with the flame off. This short resting time allows the koftas to absorb some of the flavour without turning soft. Do not stir vigorously at this stage – the koftas are delicate and will break if handled roughly. Scatter chopped coriander over the top and serve immediately with plain rice, jeera rice, or roti.
If you are making this ahead, keep the koftas and curry in separate containers and combine only when you are ready to eat.
Lauki Kofta Curry Recipe – How to Make Bottle Gourd Kofta Curry Recipe
Ingredients
to make lauki koftas
- 2 cups Bottle Gourd / lauki grated
- 4 tbsp Gram Flour besan
- 1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
- 1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- Salt to taste
- Oil to deep fry
Ingredients for curry
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 2 Tomatoes roughly chopped
- 2 Green Chilli
- 1 inch Ginger
- 5 pods Garlic crushed
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam Massala Powder
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1 Black Cardamom
- 1 pcs Cinnamon Stick
- 3 tbsp Chopped Coriander Leaves
- 2 tbsp Oil
- Salt to taste
- Water as needed
Instructions
- Mix coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder in a small bowl with some water. Set aside.
- Roughly chop the tomato, ginger and green chilli and make puree out of it. Set aside.
- Rinse and peel the lauki and grate it.
- Squeeze the grated lauki and keep it aside. (Do not discard the water as you can use this water for gravy).
- Mix gram flour, garam masala, red chilli powder and salt to taste with the grated lauki. Mix everything well.
- Now make small round shape balls out of it.
- Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry them nicely till they get brown.
- Take it out in a plate and set aside.
- Remove the extra oil from the frying pan, keep about 2 to 3 tbsp oil in kadhai.
- Now heat oil, add cumin seeds to it.
- When the seeds starts spluttering add bay leaf, cinnmon stick and black cardamom.
- Now add chopped onion, turmeric powder and salt to it. Fry until golden brown.
- Add crushed ginger and garlic and fry until the raw smell goes off.
- Then add wet masala to it and fry until the raw smell of masala goes off.
- Now add tomato puree, stir and continue to fry the masala paste till it starts leaving oil from the sides.
- Add the lauki juice and water as needed to the paste.
- Stir and simmer for 10 minutes.Now add fried lauki kofta.
- Switch off the fire and let them be in the curry for few minutes so that the koftas will become soft.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve lauki kofta along with hot rotis, naan, jeera rice or plain rice.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Question About Bottle Gourd Kofta Curry:
Can I make the koftas without frying?
Yes! You can bake or air-fry them for a healthier version.
Why do my koftas break in the curry?
Make sure to squeeze all the water from lauki and don’t add the koftas too early. Add them just before serving.
Is this the same as dudhi kofta?
Yes, dudhi and lauki are the same vegetable. Different names in different regions.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes. Store the koftas and curry separately. Mix and heat just before eating.
Can I use this for meal prep?
Absolutely. You can prep the koftas and curry in advance and assemble when needed.
What is the difference between lauki kofta and malai kofta?
Malai kofta is typically made with paneer and potato, and the gravy is richer – often cream-based or tomato-cashew based. Lauki kofta is lighter.
The koftas are made from bottle gourd, the gravy uses a standard onion-tomato base, and the overall dish is less heavy.
Both are North Indian vegetarian curries, but they differ in richness, ingredient, and texture. Lauki kofta is the more everyday version; malai kofta is usually reserved for special occasions.
Can I make lauki kofta without besan (gram flour)?
Gram flour is the standard binding agent in lauki kofta because it absorbs the moisture from the grated lauki and holds the shape when frying.
If you do not have besan, you can substitute with rice flour, though the koftas will be slightly less soft. Some cooks also use a combination of besan and rice flour for a crispier outer texture.
I would not recommend plain wheat flour as a substitute – it tends to make the koftas heavy.
Why are my lauki koftas falling apart while frying?
This almost always comes down to water. Lauki holds a large amount of liquid, and if you do not squeeze it out thoroughly before mixing, the batter stays too wet and the koftas will not hold their shape.
After grating, place the lauki in a clean cloth and squeeze firmly until very little water comes out. Also check that your oil is hot enough before you add the koftas.
If the oil is too cool, the koftas will absorb it and collapse. A simple test: drop a tiny piece of batter into the oil – it should rise to the surface within 2 to 3 seconds.
Can lauki kofta curry be made Punjabi style?
Yes. Punjabi-style lauki kofta curry typically uses a heavier hand with the whole spices – more generous with the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves – and sometimes includes a small amount of cream or curd stirred into the gravy at the end.
The base method is the same: onion-tomato gravy with ginger, garlic, and the standard powdered spices. The Punjabi version also tends to use ghiya (the Punjabi name for lauki) and cooks the gravy longer for a deeper colour.
This recipe can easily be adapted that way by adding a tablespoon of cream near the end and cooking the masala a few minutes longer.
How do I keep lauki koftas from becoming soggy in the curry?
Add the koftas to the curry just before you are ready to serve, not while the curry is still cooking. If you leave them simmering in the gravy, they absorb liquid and become soft to the point of falling apart.
Store the koftas and curry separately if you are making this ahead of time. Warm each separately, then combine in the serving bowl rather than on the stove.
Is lauki kofta curry a Bihari dish?
Lauki kofta is cooked across North India, in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab – with small variations in each region. Bihar does have a tradition of using lauki in everyday cooking, and kofta-style preparations appear in home kitchens across the state.
It is not exclusively a Bihari dish, but it is certainly a familiar one. My version of this recipe carries the influence of how it was made in my family home in Bihar, minimal oil, straightforward spices, and no unnecessary additions.
Can I make this recipe vegan?
Yes. The base recipe as written here is already vegan, it uses no dairy. The koftas are made with lauki and besan, and the curry uses oil, not ghee. If you are using the pro tip of adding cream to the gravy, simply leave that out or use coconut cream instead to keep it vegan.
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