Lau Er Khosha Bhaja Bottle Gourd Peel Playful Cooking

What is Lau Er Khosha Bhaja?

Lau refers to bottle gourd, khosha refers to the peel and bhaja refers to stur fry in this case. For the past several years since I left home, I have used bottle guard so many times in several different dishes. But I never used those peels. In the process of learning to cook, I forgot some of these simple dishes that I grew up eating. Bottle Gourd is a very commonly used vegetable in India, but I highly doubt anybody knows that the peel is perfectly edible and nutritional. Next time you make kofta with bottle gourd, save those peels and make this simple Lauer Khosha Bhaja as a side dish.

Ingredients for Lau Er Khosha Bhaja?

Bottle Gourd Peel - You want to make sure the bottle gourd peels are bright green and not pale green. If it’s pale and got lots of black mark, then don’t use the peel and discard it. Or use only the portions that look fine. Onion - Onions are optional. I do like the sweetness it adds to the dish, and you can choose to use it or not. Nigella seeds and Bay leaves - The dish doesn’t call for heavy spices. Just some nigella seeds for that pungent kick, along with a couple of bay leaves. Sun-dried lentil dumplings - Daler bodi as we call it in Bengali, are optional, and my Mom mostly omits it, but I like the texture it adds along with the earthy lentil aroma. Simultaneously, you can omit these dumplings and just do a stir-fry with thinly sliced onions.

Steps to prepare

1- Peel using a knife so you get a thicker portion of the peel. 2- Stack the peel and slice into thin strips as shown in the picture. 3- Boil the peel with little salt until it’s soft. 4- In a heavy bottom pan or a wok, add a little mustard oil and stir-fry the sun dried dumplings until it’s mildly golden brown. Remove from the pan once done. 5- Next add the bay leaf and nigella seeds. Let it sizzle for a few seconds. 6- Scatter the sliced onion and add salt along with a little turmeric. Cook the onion until it’s softened. 7- Add the boiled peels, along with the fried dumplings, and stir it around. Add little water, cover and let it simmer for few minutes. 8- Taste for salt and add more if needed. The peel shouldn’t get too mushy as you cook it. You want the tender bite of the peel. Enjoy warm with rice and lau diye bhaja mung daal.

FEW KEY POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND

This bottle gourd peel stir-fry tastes good with bottle gourds those are tender. Sometimes, depending on the size of the bottle gourd you buy, the peel might be more tough in texture. In such case, you will have to boil the peel for longer before you stir-fry it. Occasionally, I find really tiny tender bottle gourd, and for those, I don’t even feel the need to boil the peel separately. So, you need to make a call based on how tough the peels are.