Lauki Dum Banarasi or the Bharwa Lauki is a delicious preparation of the Vegetarian Royal Recipe inspired by Cuisines of Nawab. The Stuffed Bottle Gourd is simmered in a nut rich gravy and smoked to give the authentic taste to the Nawabi Cuisine.
Ingredients
1 bottle large gourd, peeled and cut into 1 inch thick slices with center pulp scooped out
Ingredients For The Stuffing | Bharwa
1/2 cup paneer, crumbled
1/4 cup unsweetened mawa / khoya
1 tablespoon almond chopped
1 tablespoon pistachio chopped
2 tablespoons fresh coriander chopped
1/2 teaspoon amchur | dry mango powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon green chilli finely chopped
salt to taste
Ingredients For The Curry | Gravy
3 tablespoon ghee
an inch piece of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2 onions, roughly chopped
3 large tomatoes, pureed
2 tablespoons cashew nuts
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
2-3 dry red chilies
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
2 tablespoons fresh cream
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste
1 piece of coal
1 teaspoon ghee
2 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
Method
Steam the bottle gourd in a steamed until lightly tender. Don’t steam too much, as you don’t want the bottle gourd to become too soft. Remove from steamer and keep aside to cool.
Combine all the ingredients for the stuffing in a mixing bowl. Fill the steamed lauki with the stuffing.
Heat a shallow pan with a little oil on medium heat. Place the stuffed lauki on the oil and shallow fry until the filling and the lauki gets a little golden brown from the sides and center.
For the Gravy:
Grind the cashew nuts along with a dash of water to a smooth paste.
Soak Cashew and Poppy seeds in warm water for 30 minutes and ground to paste. Keep aside
Grind the ginger, garlic and onions into a smooth paste and keep aside.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan; add in the ginger garlic and onion paste and sauté on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes until the raw smell goes away and is lightly browned. Add in the cardamom, cloves, dry red chillies, turmeric powder and sauté for a couple of minutes. Next add in the cashew nut paste, the tomato puree, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt and garam masala powder. Stir for another couple of minutes until the tomatoes begin to come to a bubbly state.
Stir in the fresh cream and give it a brisk boil. Finally place the stuffed Bottle Guard into the gravy. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and allow the Bharwa Lauki to simmer in the curry while we prepare the coal for smoking.
Place the coal on the flame and allow it to become red hot. Once you notice that the coal is red hot, place it in a small heat proof cup. Place this cup of coal on top of the simmering Bharwa Lauki. Add a spoon of ghee on top of the coal. It will begin to smoke. At this stage, immediately close the lid and allow the mixture to simmer for another 5 minutes. This helps the Bharwa Lauki to get the smoked flavor.
After five minutes, turn off the heat, stir in the chopped coriander leaves. Spoon and transfer the Bharwa Lauki to a serving bowl.
Serve the delicious Bharwa Lauki or the Lauki Dum Banarasi along with Plain Parathas, Naan or Phulka’s
Note
You can substitute stuffing with boiled mashed potatoes instead of Mawa
