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Food Talk
Gourd times ahead
The tasty, easy-to-cook, Lau Borhi from Bengal can be eaten to the heart's content by the health conscious
 Lau
in Bengali is the good old lauki. The poor gourd is considered an
avoidable vegetable by most of us - prescribed only for the aged and
infirm or ailing. The Awadhi bawarchi and Kashmiri waza have tried
valiantly to refine recipes for musallam and dum to elevate the
squashes status but in the process, the water rich doodhiya loses its
identity. The palate is either overpowered by the rich spicy stuffing
or the health-conscious are put off by the scary roghan.
We are very fond of
lauki and consume it in any form. Be it tempered with cumin seeds or
shaped as kofta, we find it irresistible. The non-vegetarian duet it
plays with prawns and shrimps in lau chingri is the delicacy that
introduced us to the magic lauki can conjure in the land of mishti and
maacch.
It came as a pleasant
surprise that the denizens of Bengal use spicy lentil dumplings to
flavour some dishes like the people of Kashmir. Bori adds value to
subzi and isn't eaten by itself unlike the Punjab and Hindi Heartland.
Lau-Borhi is a variation well worth trying in summer months when other
out-of-season vegetable prices soar skywards. Easy to cook, tasty and
can be eaten to heart's content without any pangs of guilt, it seems
tailor-made for days to come.
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Lau Borhi
Ingredients
 Lauki (tender) 1 kg
Potato medium one
Bori (Bengali vadi can be two substituted
with spicy vadi of your choice)
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Green chillies (deseeded 2-3 and ground to paste)
Dhania powder 1 tsp
Cumin seeds powder 1 tsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Method
Peel the lauki and cut into small pieces. Peel, wash and dice the potato. Heat ghee in a pan and lightly fry the bori in it. Remove, place on absorbent paper and when cool, pound to a powder. Put the ginger paste in the pan and stir-fry briskly for 30 seconds. Then add chilli paste, along with the potato dices. Add powdered spices, along with the salt. Now put in the lauki, stir well cover and cook for 12 minutes on medium flame till done to taste. If well-done lauki is what you love add a couple of spoons full of water and cook for 2 more minutes. Sprinkle the bori powder all over mix and serve after garnishing with chopped fresh coriander leaves. |
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