Lauki Raita Recipe – The Cooling Side Dish
Lauki Raita is a creamy and cooling Indian side dish made with bottle gourd (lauki), yoghurt, and spices. Its texture is soft and juicy, with aromatic flavours—a perfect pairing with biryani, pulao, flatbreads, and a side dish of dals and curries. This lauki raita recipe is super easy to make and requires minimal effort to kick up your everyday meals!
About lauki raita
It has many alternative names, like Ghiya Raita in Hindi, Doodhi Raita in Gujarati, and Bottle Gourd Raita or Calabash Raita in English. But one thing never beats, i.e., its deliciousness. As we all know, bottle gourd is a healthy vegetable to eat, especially in summer. It is packed with vitamins, fibre, and water, and it helps the body in various ways. Other healthy bottle gourd dishes to add to your daily meals to get extra nutrients: dry lauki chana dal and lauki kofta.
This dudhi raita is best to eat on hot summer days when the heat is at its peak, helping cool the body. My sister likes this ghiya raita the most among all raita varieties, so it is prepared two to three times a week in our home. We like to eat at lunchtime, along with dal, curries, and sometimes simple roti.
It is made with fresh green bottle gourd, boil it until soft and tender, then squeeze the excess water from it. After that, mix it with whisked chilled curd and spices: cumin, red chilli, mint, and garam masala powder. To make it more nutritious and aromatic, herbs and green chillies are added, but I like to make it without them.
The hot oil tadka is also added at the end to give a rich, restaurant-style flavour, with oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida, and dried red chilli. If you like tadka in your raita, you can easily add it. But I like to make my raita without it, and that’s how I usually make it in my everyday meals.
More flavorful raita varieties you may also like:
Ingredients
- Bottle Gourd: Use fresh, light green, medium-long bottle gourd. Make sure it has soft and tender seeds.
- Curd: I have used homemade chilled yoghurt. If you are using store-bought, make sure it is non-sour.
- Spices: Cumin powder, mint powder, garam masala, and red chilli powder are used in my recipe. They are enough to give the best flavour.
How to make lauki raita recipe
1. Take a bottle gourd, peel its skin, and wash it in clean water. Now grate into a bowl or platter with a grater. After grating, it is one cup.
2. After that, add the grated bottle gourd to a fry pan with 1.5 cups of water on high heat and cook until they are soft.
You can also boil them in a pressure cooker on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, then release the pressure naturally.
3. When they are soft and tender, turn off the heat. It takes 12 to 15 minutes on high heat. It needs more time if you’re cooking on low heat.
4. Now transfer the boiled bottle gourd to a strainer to drain excess water.
5. When they cool down a little, squeeze the remaining water from them by pressing with your hands. This step is optional; you can directly add it after straining the curd.
6. Now take a cup of chilled yoghurt in a mixing bowl.
7. Whisk it until smooth consistency with a churner or wired whisk.
8. After whisking, add the squeezed bottle gourd, 1 tsp black salt, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala, and 1 tsp mint powder.
9. Mix all the ingredients well, and the lauki raita is ready.
Serving Idea
» Serve this bottle gourd raita chilled with a garnish of cucumber wedges, coriander leaves, lemon slices, and some cumin or mint powder.
» The perfect pairing for raita for making a complete meal with chole pulao, onion pulao, and vegetable pulao.
» This raita is served alongside dal tadka and rajma masala to balance the heat of spices.
» You can enjoy them with stuffed flatbreads like aloo paratha, gobi paratha, and onion paratha for breakfast.
» It also goes well with dry sabzi like arbi masala and bhindi fry when paired with hot phulka.
Top Tips
- Don’t overcook the lauki; cook just until tender to maintain its texture and nutrients.
- Let the bottle gourd cool completely before mixing in the curd to prevent the curd from becoming watery.
- Use thick fresh curd for a creamy or rich ghiya raita.
- You can reserve cooked lauki liquid to adjust consistency later.
- Adjust flavour according to your preferences by adding more or fewer spices.
- You can add chopped coriander leaves for an extra refreshing taste during summer.
- You can refrigerate it for a day only, as dudhi raita tastes best when served fresh.
- If your curd is a little sour, add some milk to regain the same taste.
- Chilled it for an hour in the refrigerator before serving.
Lauki Raita Recipe – The Cooling Side Dish
Ingredients
- 1 medium bottle gourd
- 1 cup fresh yogurt
- 1 tsp black salt
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp mint powder
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- 1½ cup water
Instructions
- Take a fresh bottle gourd, peel its skin, and wash it in clean water. Grate it in a bowl.
- Now add grated bottle gourd to a fry pan with 1.5 cups of water.
- Cook it on high heat until they are soft and tender.
- When they are properly cooked, turn off the flame.
- Transfer the boiled bottle gourd to a strainer to drain excess water.
- When they are a little cool, squeeze the remaining water from them.
- Whisk the chilled curd in a mixing bowl.
- Now add a squeezed bottle gourd and all spices.
- Mix all the ingredients well, and the raita is ready.
- Serve it with roti and paratha.
Notes
- Cook the lauki just until tender.
- Before mixing in the curd, let the bottle gourd cool down completely.
- Use thick fresh curd for a creamy or rich ghiya raita.
- Adjust spices according to your taste preferences.
- Add some coriander leaves for a refreshing taste.
- Chilled it for an hour before serving.
