This Lauki soup is light, comforting and zero oil. Made with a mix of vegetables, lentils and cottage cheese, this hidden veggie soup comes together easily. You can make it in the Instant Pot or in a pressure cooker.
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Off late, I have been experimenting a lot on how to combine fresh produce in Germany and Indian recipes. This Spitzkohl Poriyal was a result of this.
Another recent favorite is this Dhudhi Soup. Dhudhi or bottle gourd has numerous health benefits and its low calorie nature makes it a regular in our food. Lauki Sabzi and Parathas is my comfort food theory.
And now, we also love this easy zero-oil soup. I am sharing how to make this recipe in the Instant Pot. You can make it in any electric pressure cooker or even in a regular stove top cooker.
Ingredients
Trust me on the ingredients here. They work beautifully well and no one will find out what went into it. Which means this soup is a brilliant way to get kids to eat bottle gourd.
- Onion and garlic for flavor and aroma
- Bottle gourd – choose tender and fleshy gourds. Mature gourds are fibrous and do not work for soups. I have used the bottle gourd that I froze for this recipe.
- Cauliflower to build volume and give some texture to the soup
- Mixed Italian herbs – I am using a frozen blend of herbs here. My mix has parsley, wild garlic, chives, chervil and cress to name a few. This is a typical 8 herb mix I find here in Germany.
- Stock cube – You can also use regular vegetable broth instead.
- Red lentils – they taste brilliant in soups.
- Water
- Salt and pepper
- Cottage cheese for protein
- pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and croutons for toppings
Topping Ideas
Make any soup gourmet by choosing the right kind of toppings. Here are some of our family favorites-
- Dukkah spice blend
- Roasted nuts and seeds – almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds are all top on soups.
- Roasted Makhana
- Roasted chickpeas
Substitutes
While the base for this recipe includes bottle gourd, red lentils, onions and garlic, you can try the following as substitutes for other ingredients here-
- Cauliflower – use zucchini, sweet potatoes or potatoes in its place. However, the nutrition profile for this soup will change when you use potatoes. Pick starchy potatoes like russet. You will need only 50 grams of chopped potatoes here.
- Stock cubes can be replaced with vegan or vegetarian broth. I love Knorr stock cubes that we get here in Germany. You could also use bouillon powder.
- Herbs – Like I mentioned, I have used a frozen herb blend here. This combination works well as a substitute – 3 stalks of chives, 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped, 7 to 8 fresh basil leaves plus 1/4 cup chopped spring onions (both white and green parts).
- If you cannot find fresh herbs, use 1.25 tsp of any dried herbs you have on hand.
- Use yellow lentils or moong dal instead of red lentils.
- Cottage cheese is quite popular in the US and in EU. If you are living in Asia, it can be expensive and also hard to source. Ideal replacements for cottage cheese here can be low fat yogurt or tofu. You will need 100 grams of tofu. Silken tofu is another fantastic replacement.
- If you choose to add yogurt to this soup, please make sure that you stir it in while the soup is warm. Whisk the yogurt till smooth and bring it to room temperature before you add it.
- Another fantastic option is plant based yogurt. My personal recommendations are unsweetened cashew or soy yogurt.
Our goal here is to work with whatever we have on hand. Ingredients like herbs can often be customized with locally available produce.
How to freeze Lauki?
You can freeze any gourd variety for up to 2 months. This includes bottle gourd, ridge gourd and bitter gourd. Freezing Lauki makes it easy to enjoy it all year round.
- Wash the bottle gourd well. Peel and chop into 1 inch cubes. Since I use them in curries or in this soup, I chop them this way.
- Arrange the chopped gourd on a freezer safe flat tray in a single layer.
- Place in the freezer overnight or until completely frozen. They need at least 8 hours.
- When done, remove them from the tray, transfer to a freezer safe bag, label and freeze.
- If you are using a freezer bag, store them flat on the surface instead of vertically upright. This saves space and helps in stacking better. Freezer real estate is invaluable :).
Shelf life and storage
- Leftover soup keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Store in a clean and air tight refrigerator friendly container.
- Before reheating, allow it to come to room temperature. Transfer to a saucepan, reheat gently and serve.
Method
This soup requires just 5 to 10 mins of prep time. Since it is a zero oil soup, it has no sautéing involved.
Prep and assemble all the ingredients needed for the soup. Wash the red lentils well and set aside.
Insert the inner pot into the Instant Pot. Add all the ingredients except the cottage cheese to the inner pot.
Ensure that the sealing ring has been fitted properly into the Instant Pot lid. Plug in, press PRESSURE COOK and set it to HIGH PRESSURE on 10 minutes. Turn the VALVE to SEALING.
Allow the cooking cycle to complete. Wait for 15 minutes before you release the pressure manually.
To release the pressure manually, turn the VALVE to VENTING. Do this carefully since hot liquids spew easily.
After opening, add the cottage cheese to the mixture and blend everything until smooth using an immersion blender. Add ground pepper and adjust salt if needed.
Serve hot with croutons and roasted seeds or nuts as a topping.
Pressure cooker Dudhi Soup
- To a 5 liter deep pressure cooker, add all the ingredients except cottage cheese.
- Cook for 3 to 4 whistles on medium heat. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- When pressure releases, open the lid and add cottage cheese. Blend to a smooth puree using an immersion blender.
- Add ground pepper and mix well.
- Serve hot with toppings of your choice.
Lauki Soup
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot or any electric pressure cooker. I have tried making this in both 3 and 6 quart Instant Pots. Both work well.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 3/4 cup onions chopped
- 40 grams mixed frozen herbs I have used frozen herb mix readily available in Germany. Refer notes.
- 100 grams cauliflower separated into florets
- 300 grams bottle gourd peeled and cubed
- 2 tbsp red lentils
- 1 vegetarian stock cube
- 6 cups water
- 100 grams cottage cheese
- 1 tsp salt or to taste or to taste
- 1.5 tsp ground black pepper
For topping
- 1 tsp low fat coconut cream or soy cream
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1` tbsp sunflower seeds
Instructions
- Wash the red lentils well and set aside. Insert the inner pot into the Instant Pot.
- Add all the ingredients except the cottage cheese to the inner pot.
- Ensure that the sealing ring has been fitted properly into the Instant Pot lid. Plug in, press PRESSURE COOK and set it to HIGH PRESSURE on 10 minutes.
- Turn the VALVE to SEALING.
- Allow the cooking cycle to complete.
- Wait for 15 minutes before you release the pressure manually. To release the pressure manually, turn the VALVE to VENTING.
- Do this carefully since hot liquids spew easily.
- After opening, add the cottage cheese to the mixture and blend everything until smooth using an immersion blender.
- Add ground pepper and adjust salt if needed.
- Serve hot with a swirl of coconut cream, croutons and roasted seeds or nuts as a topping.
stove top pressure cooker method
- To a 5 liter deep pressure cooker, add all the ingredients except cottage cheese.
- Cook for 3 to 4 whistles on medium heat.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- When pressure releases, open the lid and add cottage cheese.
- Blend to a smooth puree using an immersion blender.
- Add ground pepper and mix well.
- Serve hot with toppings of your choice.
Notes
- Herbs - Like I mentioned, I have used a frozen herb blend here. This combination works well as a substitute - 3 stalks of chives, 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped, 7 to 8 fresh basil leaves plus 1/4 cup chopped spring onions (both white and green parts).
For Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes
Instant Pot timings may vary based on your geographic location. Air fryer settings and timings may vary based on the capacity and the model of the Air fryer.
Disclaimer
Nutrition values are provided here as a courtesy and are only a rough guide. Please consult a health care provider if you have any concerns.
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