Updated on July 8th, 2020

Bottle Gourd/ Louki/ Ghia Puree with Curd for baby

Babies are not very fond of bottle gourd (lauki) because of its bland taste. But this quick and tasty recipe surely be liked by your babies. With the blend of the delicious flavour of curd and healthiness of bottle gourd, a perfect snack for toddlers.

Bottle gourd is a good source of calcium and Vitamins C and K. It is easy on the digestive glands. Bottle gourd beats the summer heat. Curd helps in boosting immunity and strong bones.

Recipe Time: 10 mins

Preparation: 2 mins

Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients

• Medium-sized bottle gourd – ½
• Roasted cumin seeds (powdered) – a pinch
• Salt – a pinch
• Homemade Curd – 4 tablespoon
• Water – 90 ml

How to Make

• Peel the bottle gourd and cut it into small cubes.
• Wash the vegetable cubes thoroughly with plain water.
• Take the pressure cooker and put the cubes and water into it.
• Close the lid of the cooker and allow two whistles to come.
• Keep the flame on a sim.
• Cook the dish for 5 mins and turn off the flame.
• Sieve or mash the boiled bottle gourd.
• Add cumin seeds and salt to the puree for enhancing the flavour.
• Add curd to the puree and mix it well. Curd adds texture and altogether gives a kick to the recipe. If you want can serve the curd separately with the puree.
• The creamy bottle gourd(lauki) puree is ready to serve.

 Useful Tips

• Do taste the recipe so prepared before feeding it to the baby.
• Do not add water to the puree. Because the bottle gourd itself releases water on cooking which makes the recipe runny and smooth.
• Adding cumin seeds to the recipe is optional. It gives aroma to the dish and mostly liked by babies.
• Store the roasted cumin seeds in an airtight container. The powdered form makes the cumin seeds easily chewable.
• Add the curd to the recipe immediately before feeding the baby. Otherwise, the bottle gourd would taste bitter.
• Taste raw bottle gourd before using in the recipe to check its bitterness. If bitter avoid using the vegetable.
• Alter the proportion of ingredients in the recipe as per the baby’s requirement.
• Select the bottle gourd that has light green skin without blemishes. Choose medium-sized slim bottle gourd.

The vegetable is bottle-shaped or round. If using round-shaped bottle gourd a wedge of it is sufficient for the recipe.

• Feeding lauki for 2 to 3 days in a week is good. This does not bore the babies with the same food and gives variety to their diet chart to enjoy.
• Always check with your paediatrician before giving any new food to the baby.