Lau Bata - Bottle Gourd Paste

I was a member of a cooking forum in Orkut where the members used to exchange recipes. In one such forum, I picked up the below recipe of bottle gourd detailed by one of the fellow members. In fact, before I joined the thread which was carrying on discussion upon bottle gourd cooked in variety of ways, I was not aware that bottle gourd offers such wide range of culinary creations.  Amazing!

Ingredients:                                       Cooking time: 20 minutes ü  1 large bottle gourd (500 gm/ 1 pound 16 oz) ü  1 tsp black mustard seeds ü  25 gm poppy seeds paste ü  25 gm yellow mustard seeds paste ü  Salt to taste ü  2 1/2 tsp sugar or as per your craving ü  4-5 green chillies (chopped) ü  2 tbsp of grated coconut ü  Mustard oil for cooking (You may use white oil also) Method: 1) Grind the bottle gourd into a semi solid paste using a blender. 2) Heat mustard oil in a wok. When oil begins to smoke, add black mustard seeds and sizzle. 3) Slide in the bottle gourd. Add turmeric powder. Stir around and cook for few minutes. 4) Pour the poppy seeds paste and yellow mustard seeds paste into the pan. Mix in. Cook covered for few minutes. 5) When bottle gourd seems tender, toss in the chopped green chillies, salt and sugar. Stir around for a while. 6) Finally before turning the heat off, sprinkle grated coconut and mix in. 7) Garnish with split green chillies. Serve hot with steaming rice.