Bottle gourd, known as lauki (Ghiya) in Hindi and Dudhi in Gujarati. It is not only a popular vegetable in every household, but it is very healthy due to its many health benefits.

Lauki is one such vegetable, but not many people use it in their diet.

We can use this Sabji in many ways and add it in our diet. For example we can make Lauki Juice, Lauki Ka Raita, Lauki Sabji and Lauki Kofta Curry, in which deep-fried kofta made of grated Bottle Gourd, Gram flour and some spices.

Lauki is an incredibly healthy vegetable, which can be added to our diet.

Fresh juice give you a Radiant and Energetic life and helps in cleaning your system, but there are many more vegetables, from which you can make juice and have the same benefits or even more. Such as-Zucchini, Cucumber, Broccoli, Celery, Coriander Juice and Baby Spinach Juice.

Moreover, there are some vegetables and fruits like those, which are rich in Vitamin C that tend to lose their nutrients on cooking and therefore, it’s best to consume them raw or better to juice them up.

How to Add Lauki in Daily Diet?

There are many benefits of lauki juice or bottle gourd as it is mostly have in it almost 92% water(Juice).

But there are hardly few people, who know the benefits of this Amazing Vegetable and have it in their diet. Majority of the people don’t know it and many don’t use it in their cooking

1. If I make Lauki Sabji, my both sons don’t eat it. Even they don’t like Juice of it. So I found some other ways to use it frequently. Number one is to grate it and make dough with it and make Missi Roti from it. This is the best way to use it and eat as in its real form without adding any spices to dough.
2. Second way to use lauki is to make Kofta Kadhi with it, here you have to fry Koftas in Oil(Rice Bran Oil is best oil to fry), but this way Lauki lose some Nutrients. Still something is better than nothing. Yes it is very tasty and delicious Kadhi that you can eat and of course everybody will love it.
3. Third way to use it as a Sweet Dish. So you can make any mathai from it; such as halwa, Kheer, Burfi and Ladoo. Here again Lauki loses its Nutrients.

Incredible Benefits of Bottle Gourd or Lauki / Ghiya

Eating light and indulging in fresh, seasonal fruits is one way to stay cool in Summer hot long days.

One of the more popular vegetables used in Indian kitchens during Summers is lauki or bottle gourd, and it has long been advocated to have many health benefits.

• Bottle gourd contains a lot of water and that’s the reason it is considered a perfect thirst quencher. It also prevents fatigue, especially during summers.
• Lauki helps in reducing weight and by drinking it on a daily basis would help you reduce weight.
• Those People, who are suffering from constipation problem, can easily get rid of it by drinking a glass of lauki juice every day. If you don’t like the taste of it, you can➡ drink this Juice.
• Bottle gourd provides good amount of both soluble and insoluble fibre and water. It helps in digestion and related problems  like constipation, flatulence and acidity. The insoluble fibre also helps in conditions like piles. ➡To Cure Piles Naturally Watch This Video.
• Bottle gourd has cooling and calming ability due to its good water content. It is very helpful during summers and specially those who work under the hot sun as it has the ability to prevent heat strokes and recovers the water lost due to perspiration. It can be consumed in a juice form or cooked as a veggie.
• Bottle gourd is considered a perfect thirst quencher. It also prevents fatigue, especially during summers.
• Moreover, it is known to be an excellent cooling agent that detoxifies the body too

Side effects of Bottle Gourd Juice

1. Be aware that such vegetables, even it is cucumber or bottle gourd, should not be consumed, if they are bitter in taste. 
2. Slice a piece from lauki (bottle gourd), taste, whether it is bitter or okay? If it’s bitter, discard it immediately, don’t consume it in any form.
3. If the bitter juice is consumed it causes a toxic reaction in the gut, leading to abdominal discomfort/pain, vomiting, hematemesis, and hypotension which may be rarely fatal, especially in persons with pre-existing illness. 

UPDATE: September 21, 2021 -Bitter Bottle Gourd

You know What happened today? Today, I made Lauki Sabji in pressure Cooker for breakfast and dinner . As I wrote above in the Side effects to taste bottle gourd before you cook OR make juice of it. But true be honest, I didn’t taste it before cooking. When the sabji was cooked, it was looking so tasty and I garnish it with so much fresh home grown coriander. I was feeling so hungry, because it was looking so tasty.

Oh, No! When I just taste it, it was so…… bitter and my whole body started to shake by just putting it in my mouth. Then I called to my husband and ask him to taste as well. He said it is bitter. Then 1/2 lauki, which was left from the one that I cooked, I taste it, it was so bitter as well.

We had to throw all the sabji and you know what? on the same Cutting board, where I cut the Lauki, I cut my greens to make my dough for missi roti. I had to throw that dough also. My mood became so upset and then again, I made another dough to make bajre Ki Roti and we were sad, as well as happy, because we escaped from eating this bottle gourd bitter sabji, otherwise I don’t know what was going to happen with both of Us? GOD SAVED US, SO I AM THANKFUL TO HIM.

How to make Lauki Ki Panjiri

Sometimes our Kids don’t eat Lauki, then we can make lauki ki panjiri, which is really delicious and healthy at the same time.

Best way to eat lauki is adding it in missi roti dough, second way to eat lauki by make lauki Sabji, third way to eat as a lauki kofta curry. But we can also make some sweet dishes with lauki. Such as lauki halwa, lauki kheer and lauki panjiri.