Recipe: Glorious Gourds, Zoodles In Creamy Yogurt { #atozchallenge }

G for Gourds.

This is a happy day, coz there are PLENTY CHOICES OF GOURDS TO COOK AND EAT! See, that’s how excited I am when it boils down to a food/vegetable group that allows so much freedom and choice!

This many vegetables are all low-carb, and this is just the Indian varieties: Bottle gourd, Bitter gourd, pointed gourd (tindora), Snake gourd and more regional varieties that am positive I am not aware of or have cooked with.

Then we have the western gourds – pumpkins and squash! (I use the term western/Indian loosely based on the prevalence and usage of the gourds that are grown in the geographical area according to climate and culture)

WHAT MAKES GOURDS SO SPECIAL

All gourds have plenty water, close to 90% on an average.

They all have potassium.

Their net carbs are about 4g on average, in a cup.

See why they make great vegetables to eat abundantly while on a low-carb diet? That said, I am always checking nutrition value on google before I know for a fact it’s a safe vegetable to have. I would suggest you do the same, regardless of whether you are tracking your macros or not.

Reading the label or the nutrition listing is really simple with respect to carbs, and the net carbs is what we are keeping track of when we want to keep carbs low.

NET CARBOHYDRATES = CARBOHYDRATES – FIBER

Zucchini is a gourd, and I use it plenty in the form of zoodles. Plenty folks have messaged and asked for one particular recipe, so here goes:

RECIPE FOR ZOODLES IN CREAMY YOGURT

This uses hung full-fat yogurt. We are removing all the whey or liquid which is where all the carbs hide. I keep it simple and use a tea strainer. Scoop 3 tablespoons of yogurt into a tea strainer and let it sit for 30 -45 minutes. The water drains out and you are left with very thick (read: only fat) yogurt.

Coarsely crush/grind 2 hot green chilli peppers,1/2 tsp of cumin (jeera) and a few coriander leaves and mix it in with the yogurt. Add a little salt and let it sit.

Make the zucchini noodles using the spiralizer. There are different brands, I use Paderno. One medium sized zucchini goes a long way and makes one serving.

Plenty recipes use the raw zoodles, I don’t. I saute the zoodles in some butter/coconut oil with a wee bit of salt and a sliver of onion(or garlic or both), so they cook and release water. Plus they are tastier I think. 🙂

Once the zoodles are sauteed, let cool.

Add them, to the yogurt mix and let it sit. Taste to make sure the spice and the salt are balanced.

Dig in! 🙂

Zoodles keep it low carb, and the hung yogurt keeps it high fat. Win-win? 🙂

Let me know if you make it?

OTHER ZOODLE RECIPES

The zoodles recipe for a tangy version with nuts is here. 

I change things a bit each time I make zoodles, and I don’t always make a post here on the blog for each, but instead, I post on Instagram, so check in there?

Panfried Zoodles in Schezwan Spice

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This is part of the #AtoZchallenge where I am posting a recipe a day mostly related to Keto and/or the low carb diet. If you are new and here the first time, these are the earlier posts:

F – Flavorous Fennel Soup 

E – Epic Eggplant Fries 

D – Dilemma Of The Drinks 

C – Fried Goat Cheese Salad 

B – Bamboo Stir Fry

A – Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Butter 

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