Lau Pachadi

When I was growing up, there were quite a few vegetables that I ran from. Lau (or Bottle Gourd) was on the top of the list. Then I had radish and green papaya and plantain and bitter gourd. Over the years I have developed a taste for most of the vegetables. But I still can't eat Lau or karela (bitter gourd). Of course my mom has ways of sneaking in these vegetables into my mouth and this preperation is one of them. She made this when she was here and I ate it heartily until she said it was made of Lau... Too late I had already said it was yummy!

And while I dislike Lau, my husband loves it. So we have quite a few preparations of Lau at home. This lau pachadi is a quick win for both of us.

Ingredients
Lau peeled and then grated - about 2 cups
1 cup of yogurt
1 tea spoon of mustard seeds
2-3 green chilies
handful of curry leaves
1 inch of ginger grated
salt to taste
1 tea spoon of oil


How To
Take the bottle gourd peel the skin and grate it to get about 2 cups.
Take a pan and heat oil in it. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, green chilies, grated ginger and the curry leaves.
Mix well and add the bottle gourd and salt and cover and cook for 7-8 minutes until the water from the lau evaporates.
Take off the heat, add the yogurt and some water and serve.

This goes well with rice and lasts well in the refrigerator.