Dahi Lauki Curry

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and fry cumin seeds until golden.

Add chopped chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and tomatoes, then fry. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt.

Add chopped bottle gourd (cut the bottle gourd into slightly larger pieces), fry for 1 minute. Add asafoetida, coriander leaves, and sugar, then fry a little more. Add 1/2 a bowl of water, bring to a boil. Close the cooker and cook for 2 whistles on high flame.

When the cooker cools down, add beaten yogurt. Stir continuously with a spoon. Then return to the flame and cook until it boils 1-2 times. Serve the prepared yogurt with coriander leaves.

Note: Sometimes bottle gourd does not soften; cook it for more whistles. Bottle gourd contains its own natural water, but water evaporates in bottle gourd stored for a long time. Add a little more water during cooking.

You can also use a little dry mango powder instead of tomatoes. But the curd should be fresh. Do not use sour curd in this vegetable. Fresh and thick curd gives a very nice creamy taste to this vegetable.