Bottlegourd | Healthy cooking with Mitha

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The house is silent now, till afternoon, when my kids come back from school. I am utilizing this alone time to write this interesting, very healthy and super tasty Bottlegourd thepla recipe which I learned sometime back. Once the kids return from school, all they say is “Amma, Potta Bhook!” meaning “Mom, I am hungry!” in Konkani. 😁

So I have to keep something ready for them so that I can feed them as quick as I can. And it should be filling as well. Else in another 30 mins, it’s the same dialogue again. 😄 So, in my search for healthy snack recipes, I found this Bottlegourd Thepla which I tried one day for the hungry siblings. 😍😍

Both of them literally had a fight till the last bite while I had the last laugh as they did not realize they were eating bottlegourd too in it. 😁 Seriously speaking, you can never say it is made of bottlegourd. The taste of these soft theplas are heavenly to say the least. ❤️

So now, bottlegourd is bought weekly in our grocery shopping to specially make these theplas and I had to share the recipe with all of you too. ❤️

Do try them for a change from the regular food that we make and you are sure to be a fan of Bottlegourd theplas too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { 1 Cup = 240 ml }

Makes about 4 Theplas

1 Cup Whole Wheat flour/ Atta

1/2 Cup peeled, cored and grated Bottlegourd/ Lauki / Dudhi / Sorekai / Chorakaa

1/2 inch Ginger piece, grated

3 Tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Garam masala powder

Salt to taste

1 to 2 Tbsp Yogurt/ Curd or as needed

Dry wheat flour as needed while rolling

Oil or Ghee to cook the Theplas

Step by step recipe:

1. Peel, core and grate Bottlegourd. I took half of one medium sized Bottlegourd and got 1/2 Cup gratings.

2. Add it to a mixing bowl. Add wheat flour. Then add grated ginger, chopped coriander leaves, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, Garam masala powder, coriander powder and salt.

3. Mix well using hands. Bottlegourd will release it’s water and the dough will be moist.

4. Now add 1 Tbsp Yogurt and mix well to form a dough.

Note: This step is very important as if you add more yogurt, the dough will be wet and you won’t be able to roll the theplas. Add only as much as to form a dough. In case by mistake you add more yogurt, just add more wheat flour to form a non sticky dough.

5. Coat the dough with few drops of any kind of oil so that the dough becomes non sticky.

6. Now divide into equal sized dough balls. Flatten and dip into dry wheat flour. Roll as thin as you can.

Note: The shape will not be perfect round due to grated bottlegourd in it but it’s fine. Just dip into as much dry wheat flour as needed and roll.

7. Now fry both sides on a hot tawa applying oil or Ghee on either sides, cooking the Thepla really well till it turns golden brown in colour.

8. Serve hot with mango or lemon pickle. ❤️

Notes:

* Hot theplas with pickle taste the best but you can also make ahead and keep as these last for two to three days. A perfect travel food made regularly by Gujaratis.

* Do a taste test by eating a small bite of the bottlegourd before grating to see if it’s bitter. I have never found a bitter one but I have heard some do taste bitter. So I always taste before grating.

* You can also add finely chopped green chillies to thepla dough but since I make for my kids, I add only little red chilli powder.

* Knead the dough only using the moisture from bottlegourd and yogurt. Don’t add water while kneading.

* The ratio of 1/2 Cup grated bottlegourd to 1 Cup wheat flour and 1 Tbsp Yogurt gives a very soft Thepla but is slightly tricky while rolling. If you are not good at rolling, you can increase the quantity of wheat flour to 1 1/2 Cups wheat flour. The texture will be similar to rotis though.

* While rolling, use ample amount of dry wheat flour which helps in rolling easily. If using less, the dough will stick to the rolling platform.

* I used ghee to fry the theplas. You can use oil too.

* A simple mango pickle tastes the best with this Thepla. You can also make coriander chutney or raita too.

* I regularly make this Bottlegourd Halwa which tastes really delicious. You can try it as well.

We have a ritual of making sweets every weekend to enjoy post dinner and I love to try different healthy desserts. This bottlegourd halwa was just an experiment as I was not sure if the kids will like it or not.

But to my pleasant surprise, they loved it a lot and my daughter asks it to be made every weekend. And what better that she enjoys a vegetable without making a face at it. Feels very happy when the family enjoys it.

If you are a Konkani, you might have already tasted this gardudde halwa sometime in your life. It is a famous dessert for special functions and occasions. Hope you all can make it at home and enjoy too just like how we do. Happy and healthy cooking.

Here is a picture of bottle gourd for those who don’t know which vegetable it is.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Bottlegourd/Gardudde/ Lauki/ Sorekai/ Chorakka (around 2 cups when peeled and grated)

3/4 Cup Jaggery

3 Tbsp Milk

2 Tbsp Ghee

1 Tbsp chopped Cashews

1 Tbsp Raisins

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder (optional)

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well, cut the ends, peel and cut the bottlegourd into long slices. *Save the peels for a delicious upkari. Check notes at the end.

2. Grate the bottle gourd using a grater.

* If the bottlegourd is old and the seeds are huge, the seeds need to be discarded, else if the bottle gourd is fresh like in the above picture, you can grate along with the core and use the seeds too.

3. Heat ghee in a kadhai (I use iron kadhai to make this halwa). Fry cashews till it turns slightly brown and till raisins puff up.

3. Add grated bottlegourd and fry for few minutes till the bottle gourd changes colour.

4. Add milk and cook till milk evaporates.

**See how the milk has absorbed. Add jaggery only now.**

6. Add jaggery (either powder or melted jaggery) and cook till the mixtures leaves the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder. Mix well and remove from the flame.

Notes:

* For 2 Cups of grated bottle gourd, 3/4 Cup of jaggery turns out perfectly sweet for us. You can reduce or increase as per your taste.

* As mentioned above, if the bottlegourd has huge seeds, you will have to discard it while fresh bottlegourd can be grated along with the core.

* Please don’t discard the bottlegourd peels. Just chop the peels into small pieces. And make upkari with chopped potatoes. (season oil with mustard seeds, hing, green chillies and add peels and potatoes. Add salt and little water. Cook till they turn soft. Add grated coconut on top.) Turns out delicious.

* I use iron kadhai to make this halwa as it turns out more tastier and healthier too.

* Fry well and let it cook well with milk before you add jaggery. Once you add jaggery, it won’t cook much. So do a taste test if it is cooked well before adding jaggery.

* Also allow the milk to absorb fully before adding jaggery, else the jaggery can curdle the milk.

* Do not skip milk as it gives the richness in the halwa.