Dudhi Muthiya ( Bottle Gourd Dumplings)

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

For Muthiya dough:

• Bottle gourd (doodhi / lauki), grated- 1 med. size (approx. 2 to 2 ½ cups)
• Whole wheat flour- 1 cup 
• Fine semolina (barik rava)- 1 cup
• Bengal gram flour (besan)- 1 cup
• Ginger- 2 inch 
• Green chilli- 2 to 3
• Red chili powder- 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds- ½ tsp (optional)
• Cumin seeds (jeera)- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafoetida (hing)- ½ tsp
• Fennel seeds (saunf)- ½ tsp
• Lemon juice- 2 tsp
• Sugar- a pinch
• Fresh coriander leaves, chopped- ½ cup
• Soda bi-carb (baking soda)- ½ tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil- 2 tsp

For tempering (tadaka):

• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Curry leaves- 2 strings 
• Mustard seeds (rai)- 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds (til)- 2 tsp
• Asafoetida (hing)- ¼ tsp

For garnishing: finely chopped coriander leaves


Method:
Grind or crush ginger, green chillies and cumin seeds together.

Squeeze out excess water from the grated bottle gourd and keep the liquid aside to knead the dough if required.

Combine the bottle gourd, onions, whole wheat flour, semolina, besan, ginger-green chilli -cumin crush, turmeric powder, fennel seeds, lemon juice, sugar, coriander, soda bi-carb, asafoetida and salt oil.

Mix well and knead into a soft dough adding bottle gourd liquid if required. (One thing to remember is that bottle gourd has high water content. This water itself is sufficient to impart softness to the muthiyas, and it is not necessary to add any more water while making the dough.) So be careful. 
Knead again with 2 tsp of oil.

Apply little oil on your hands and divide the mixture into 6 portions.
Shape each portion into a cylindrical roll. 
Arrange the rolls on a greased sieve and steam in a steamer for 20 to 25 minutes.
I used microwave steamer. It takes just 5 minutes. I used this twice.

Remove, cool slightly and cut into ½ inch slices and keep aside.

For the tempering, heat the remaining 2 tsp of oil in a non-stick kadhai and add mustard seeds.
When the seeds crackle, add curry leaves, sesame seeds and asafoetida and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.

Add the muthiya pieces and sauté on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes or till they turn light brown in colour and crisp.

Garnish with coriander.

Serve hot with pudina coconut chutney.