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Thursday, December 1, 2011

BOTTLE GOURD PARATHA /LAUKI /DOODHI PARATHA/ DHEBRA/THEPLA

BOTTLE GOURD PARATHA /LAUKI /DOODHI PARATHA/ DHEBRA/THEPLA
Bottle gourd also known as Lauki and doodhi in India is a vegetable that many find tasteless and associate it with food that is usually served during sickness but the high nutrient value of this vegetable makes it an invaluable food in terms of the health benefits it provides and it would be excellent to add this vegetable to your diet.
Bottle Gourd - Image courtesy -Wikipedia
Benefits of eating Bottle gourd
Bottle gourd is a good source of fiber easy to digest and helpful in curing digestion related disorders like constipation, flatulence and piles.

•  It is an effective food for weight loss as it is low in fat and cholesterol. It contains around 96% water and provides around 12 Kcal of energy.

•  Bottle gourd is also rich in iron and has vitamin B complex and Vitamin C. If you are suffering from bleeding gums or scurvy bottle guard should be included in your diet.

•  Bottle gourd is found to be a very healthy food for hypertension patients because it contains only 1.8 mg per 100gm sodium and 87 mg of potassium.

•  Since the number of calories in bottle gourd is low, it can be used as a food for low-cal diets as well as for small children, diabetics and convalescents suffering from digestive problems.

•  This vegetable has a large quantity of water and contains cooling, calming and diuretic properties.

•  Drinking a glass of bottle gourd juice in the morning helps to prevent a heat stroke during summers.

•  It also helps in curing the burning sensation in the urinary passage because of its water content.

•  Taking a glass of bottle gourd juice in the morning daily can be very helpful for treating graying hair.

•  Conditions like diarrhea can be controlled by consuming bottle gourd.

•  Bottle gourd juice is helpful to curb hunger pangs in starvation condition.

•  A mixture of sesame oil with bottle gourd juice is an effective medicine for the treatment of insomnia condition.

•  Bottle gourd is also effective in treating cardiac ailments, alleviating bronchitis, cough, asthma and biligenic ailments

With so many benefits that the humble bottle gourd has, we should be including it in our diet shouldn’t we? One such dish is the Doodhi paratha or Lauki paratha also known as Dhebra in Gujarat, which is so tasty that we won’t be realizing how many parathas we are gobbling and enjoying the inherent qualities of bottle gourd at the same time. So do try this recipe and enjoy it.

Ingredients
Wheat flour - 3 cups
Gram flour(Besan) – 1 tbspn
Bottle gourd - 1 (peeled and grated)
Yogurt – 1 tbsp
Ginger – ½ inch 
Green chillies  - 2-3 (finely chopped)
Red chilli powder - 1 tspn
Turmeric powder- 1 tspn
Kasuri Methi powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tspn
Cumin powder - 1 tspn
Asafetida – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tspns
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp

Method
Peel the bottle gourd and grate it. Squeeze out water by pressing lightly between both palms, save the water, you may need it later and can add it to the dough instead of using water. It is better to remove it initially and add later, because bottle gourd has too much water and you may end up with a very runny dough if you don't.  Make a paste of ginger and green chillies and add this to the grated bottle gourd, add 2 tbsps of oil, 1 tbsp yogurt, turmeric powder, kasuri methi powder, red chilly powder, asafetida, coriander powder, cumin powder, sesame seeds and salt and mix well with the grated bottle gourd, allow this to marinate for 10 minutes. After this add the wheat flour and gram flour and mix well, add some more salt at this point as salt added before may not be enough. Mix without adding water so that the flour and grated bottle gourd becomes one mixture. If required slowly add the squeezed out water from the grated bottle gourd that we earlier kept aside. just enough to form a firm dough, and knead till smooth. (like chappati /roti dough). Cover, let rest at least 1/2 hour, and knead again briefly. If resting more than 1 hour, punch and knead dough again before rolling out.
Divide into small balls about golf-ball size, and roll out into 12" rounds on a smooth surface. Heat a tava(flat non-stick pan) on medium flame, cook the paratha on one side first then flip to the other side after 2 mins. Flip one or two times more on either sides, adding vegetable cooking oil until you see brown spots on either sides. Serve hot.
This dish can be eaten with vegetables or with chutney and sauce as well.
It can be served as a nutritious breakfast or a main course for lunch or dinner.
This dish is not only healthy but also tasty.

3 comments:

  1. i dont like bottle gourd..but with this parathas !! thats a gr8 idea..
    i think i should try

    ReplyDelete


  2. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I look forward to trying it out...
    Chinese Restaurant in South Campus

    ReplyDelete

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