Lauki Paratha (Bottle Gourd Paratha)

Lauki Paratha are delicious North Indian flatbreads made with whole wheat flour (atta), bottle gourd, spices and fresh herbs. Lauki is the Hindi word for bottle gourd aka opo squash or long melon. So these are nothing but Bottle gourd Parathas. Lauki is a staple veggie in the Indian cuisine and is used in plenty of dishes. This recipe uses grated bottle gourd, that’s mixed with the flour and other ingredients to make the dough.

There are 2 kinds of parathas – stuffed and the non-stuffed. While the stuffed parathas need some practice, the non-stuffed ones don’t require practice or any special skills except for rolling the dough evenly with light hands.

About Lauki Paratha

These lauki paratha are not stuffed so they are easier to make. You just make the dough and roll portions to round parathas. These are toasted on a griddle with ghee or oil. They can be made thick or thin to your liking. These can be served hot or cold with a chutney, pickle or yogurt. But they taste good on their own if the dough is spiced well.

My boys are fussy to eat bottle gourd. So I often make these and the Handvo which also uses grated bottle gourd. These can be made simple with just atta, bottle gourd, coriander leaves, chilies, garam masala, red chili powder and salt.

A lot of times I also use fenugreek leaves or spinach and turmeric (for color) for a variation (as seen in the first picture). You can also make lauki thepla by replacing some of the atta with bajra or jowar and besan. These keep good in the school and office lunch boxes. They can be eaten with plain yogurt.

If you plan to make these in the early morning, you can grate the bottle gourd the previous night and keep it ready in the refrigerator. Making the dough in the stand mixer or the food processor simplifies the task. You can roll the dough to parathas immediately after kneading the dough. These lauki paratha keep good in the refrigerator for 2 days and can be steamed to reheat.

You can also make these with grated zucchini, carrots or beetroots.

Similar recipes,
Vegetable paratha
Methi paratha
Palak paratha
Beetroot paratha

Photo Guide

Step by step Instructions

1. Wash, peel and grate bottle gourd. Take 2 tablespoons atta in a small bowl for rolling and keep aside.

2. Add flour, salt, turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder or minced green chilies, grated ginger, grated gourd, chopped methi leaves/palak/ coriander leaves

3. Mix all the ingredients slowly. As we knead, moisture begins to release from bottle gourd and the flour binds with its own moisture. But if the gourd is not juicy, you may need to sprinkle little water to make a soft dough. Add oil and knead again to a pliable dough. Set aside for 30 minutes if you have times else knead it a little longer and use it right away.

4. Divide the dough to 8 portions and keep them covered until used up for rolling. Flour the rolling area with little flour, flatted a dough ball and dip in the bowl with flour to coat it. Shake off to remove the excess. Place it on the rolling area.

5. With a rolling pin roll to a thin or thick paratha to your preference. I roll to a thin 7 to 8 inch roti because the gourd does not cook in the thicker parathas. You may try out rolling thicker if you want. You may roll 4 to 5 in one batch and start cooking.

Cooking

6. Heat a tawa until medium hot (not smoking hot). Dust off the excess flour from the paratha and place it on the tawa. When you see bubbles over the paratha, turn it to the other side with a spatula.

7. Cook for 2 mins and return to the other side. Gently press with a wooden spatula so the paratha puffs slightly. Smear 1 teaspoon ghee and cook until you see brown spots on both the sides, meaning it is cooked. If your pan looks dusty with flour, clean up with paper towels.

Stack lauki parathas to keep them soft. Stack them on a cooling rack if you want to cool down or in a insulated box lined with a muslin cloth. The color of the parathas in the step by step pictures and the final pictures look different as they were made at 2 different times with more turmeric. (with & without methi leaves). Serve them with chutney, pickle, yogurt or curry.

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