Grated bottle gourd cooked with moong dal, coconut and cumin into a dry, lightly sweet vegetable dish. A Bengali everyday side, eaten with rice.
Lau ghonto is an everyday Bengali vegetable dish, made from bottle gourd (lau) grated and cooked with moong dal, grated coconut and a tempering of cumin seeds. The bottle gourd is a mild, watery vegetable that takes on the flavours it is cooked with; here, the nutty moong dal and the sweet coconut transform it into a dish that is light, slightly sweet and deeply comforting. Ghonto refers to a class of Bengali dry vegetable dishes where the ingredients are cooked until they merge into a homogeneous mass. Eaten with rice and dal at lunch, lau ghonto is everyday home food, simple and nourishing, and it is one of the first dishes a Bengali cook learns to make.
Soft, light, mildly sweet and nutty from the coconut and dal, the bottle gourd melting into the other ingredients, each spoonful homogeneous and gentle. A comforting side that balances the heat of fish curry.
The technique is a covered simmer that merges the ingredients. Moong dal is cooked separately until soft. Bottle gourd is grated (not chopped), and cooked in a tempering of cumin seeds in oil or ghee, with turmeric, green chilies and salt, covered, until the gourd releases its water and softens completely, about 15 minutes. The cooked moong dal and grated coconut are added, and the whole simmered uncovered for 5 minutes until the moisture evaporates and the dish becomes a dry, cohesive mass. The grated texture of the gourd (rather than chopped) is what allows it to merge into the ghonto texture.
Variations
Some add small shrimp for a non-vegetarian version. A version with mustard paste is sharper.
On the Palate
Where Lau Ghonto sits in the Bangladeshi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
6 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Cook 100g moong dal in water until soft; drain.
- 24 min
Grate 500g bottle gourd; set aside.
- 34 min
Temper 2 tbsp oil with 1 tsp cumin seeds; add 1 tsp turmeric, 2 green chilies.
- 46 min
Add the grated gourd; cook covered 15 minutes until soft.
Watch outCook the grated gourd covered until it collapses soft — grating (not chopping) lets it break down and merge into the dish's cohesive texture.
- 54 min
Add the cooked dal and 50g grated coconut; cook uncovered 5 minutes until dry.
Watch outThen uncover and cook until dry and cohesive — the moisture has to evaporate off or the ghonto stays wet and loose instead of a dry mass.
- 63 min
Add ghee and salt; serve with rice.
