Lauki aalu sabzi (gravy one)

                     Lauki Aaloo ki Sabzi 
                             (Gravy 1)

Lauki was mostly cooked in Indian homes during summer. As all the vegetables are easily available in U.S. throughout the year,now in India too, especially in big cities, everything is available in all the four seasons. But in olden times, there were not much choices for the people and thus lauki was cooked frequently. If you are cooking a particular vegetable repeatedly, it's but natural that you would cook different versions of it.
This lauki aaloo my mom-in-law used to make and it was my father-in-law's most favorite curry after Kathal-aaloo. Procedure is very simple and this is a great curry vegetable for hot summer nights (you can eat this in the day also. 😂😂

Ingredients:

• Lauki..1 small
• Aaloo..2 medium
• Onions..2
• Garlic cloves..4
• Green chilli..1
• Bay leaf..1
• Coriander powder..1 heaped tsp.
• Turmeric powder..1/2 tsp.
• Chilli powder..1 tsp.
• Mustard oil Or Refined oil..3+1 tbsp.
• Salt to taste
• Water..3/4 cup

Procedure:

1. Peel onion and garlic and set aside 1/2 onion for tadka, blend garlic and rest of the onion into smooth paste.
2. Peel lauki and aaloo and cut them in cubes.
3. Thinly slice half onion.
4. Heat 1 tsp. oil in a non-sticking pan and 1 slice of onion, saute for few seconds and add lauki aaloo pieces into it.
5. Cover and cook till the vegetables turn  little pink stirring them occasionally.
6. Turn off the stove.
7. Now take a pressure cooker and heat 3 tbsp. oil,when oil is hot,add bay leaf and remove it after turning for a couple of seconds. Discard the bay leaf.
8. Add thinly sliced onions+ green chilli and saute till onion is light brown.
9. Add onion garlic paste and all the dry spices along with salt and cook till masala is thoroughly cooked.
10. When oil is on the surface,add lauki aaloo, stir nicely,then add water,cover the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on medium flame till it whistles one time.
11. Turn off the stove, wait till steam is inside.
12. Serve with chapatis, rice and dal.

Note: Add 1 tsp. kashmiri mirch powder to give it a nice red color. I usually use more red chilli powder as we eat really hot,so I don't need Kashmiri mirch, my gravy is automatically red!