Lazeez Lauki

This is my entry for Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables for the Letter 'L'....
Just realised there are double L's in the title..

Lazeez Louki or delicious lauki is cooked as a whole ,
stuffed with khoya and nuts is filled with suprises.
Should we stop here .. ne lets take it to the next level ....
Cook lauki in a mild spices onion based sauce ....
Is so much enough ... ne how about giving the dish a rich saffron taste...
Lets serve this with lacha paratha ...
Shall we?

For Lauki

Lauki - 1 about 500 gms
cashew /pine nuts / pista - 10 pieces
Khoya - 200 gms ( I made khoya from Happy Burp 's recipe )
Onion - 1 small chopped finely
Corriander leaves - few leaves , chopped finely
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Chilly pwdr - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Ground meat or chopped veges of your choice (optional) - use as little or lot as you want
Do not use potatoes please ... Use chopped cabbage or capsicum
I used 20 gms of ground beef
Sonf - 1/4 tsp
Yogurt - 2 tsp
Salt

Method:

1) Heat oil , fry cashews , sonf , saute onions , Add ginger garlic paste
2) Additional meat or vegetables , curd , all powders and salt.
3) Cook till all water evaporates. Crumble Khoya and stir well.
Set aside.

Preparing Lauki:

1) Peel lauki , remove the center portion , make hole on the outside evenly
with a fork. Smear little salt on the outside.
Set aside for 10 minutes. All the water from the lauki will come out.
2) Heat oil in a pan , Add lauki and brown it evenly throughout.
3) Let it cool and stuff the khoya mixture tightly into the lauki.
Set aside

For Gravy:

Onion - 1 big sliced thinly
Cloves - 4
elaichi - 1
mace - 1/4 tsp
poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt - 1 tsp
Chilly pwrd - 1/4 tsp
Saffron - few strands crushed
Kewra water - 1 tsp ( optional )
Milk - warm 1 cup and dissolve crushed saffron in it set aside for 10 minutes

Method:

1) Fry onions till light brown. Set aside
2) Grind cloves , elaici , mace and poppy seeds.
3) Add yogurt , fried onions. Grind to a smooth paste.
4) Heat oil , add onions paste , chilly pwdr and saute till there is no raw smell.
5) Add half of the saffron milk. Bring to a boil . Reduce to simmer and add the stuffed lauki
carefully
6) Cook covered for 10 minutes.
Flip the lauki so that the othet side gets coked. Add remaining saffron milk and
Kewra water. Cook covered for 10 minutes or till lauki is soft.
7) Serve on a platter garnished with corriander leaves.
Cut the lauki before serving.