Dudhaatla Dudhi : Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!!

Yes, my reaction was the same when i heard about Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!! My father had talked very highly of this recipe made by my mom. But i didn't pay much attention to it, niether bothered to take the recipe from my mother...until a day, when i had bottle gourd in my fridge and didn't know what to cook !!! I decided to try this recipe with half of the bottle gourd, just in case me or my hubby don't like it. But Voila !!! It turned out super yummy and its so easy to cook too!

I just found out that Dudhi or Bottle gourd or Ghiya as it is commonly known as, is also called Calabash. The rounder varieties are called Calabash Gourds. This was grown not primarily for food, but was used as a water container. Interesting, isn't it??

Ingredients :

Milk - 1/2 cup ( you can even add cream and little milk if u like a creamy texture )

Bottle Gourd/ Dudhi - 1/2 of medium size ( comes around 1 cup when chopped )

Cloves - 2 to 3

Pepper corns ( Kaali miri ) - 5 to 6

Daalchini - 1 small piece

Bay leaf - 1

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4 ( Adjust according to taste )

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves - to garnish

Recipe :

Wash and peel the Dudhi. Chop them into small or medium cubes. ( smaller ones are easier to eat )

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper, cloves, daalchini and bay leaf and fry for a minute on low flame.

Then add the Dudhi, red chillies and saltand fry for another minute.

Cover it with a lid.

When the Dudhi is half cooked, add the milk or cream. 

Keep the low flame and let it take its own time to cook. This way it takes all the flavours of the raw spices added. Keep stirring in between when the milk starts boiling. Add more milk if u want thinner consistency.

Remove from the flame after Dudhi is cooked and let is cool. To garnish, add chopped corriander leaves before serving.

Happy cooking :))