Bottle Gourd / Lauki Soup - Loose Weight!

These days at my office, most of the colleagues have been following various diet plans and the discussion is all about losing weight... I also followed a one week diet plan last week and skipped eating rice and Chapati and included loads of salads, pulses, fruits and soups in my diet.  I avoided having tea and coffee during these days...I preferred having warm water, green tea instead. I did not check my weight at the end of the week... but believe me I felt very light and good!

Soup is among the foods listed for weight loss. It is true that soup before a meal is filling, and helps you eat less and take in fewer calories which is great for weight loss. Soup for dinner is also a good idea because the liquids are already broken down which means your body has to do less work when it comes to digestion.

Losing weight can be challenging because diets often require you to cook complicated meals. Soup is easy to make in large batches ahead of time so that you do not have to spend long hours in the kitchen. Apart from lunch or dinner, you can even serve yourself a bowl for an afternoon snack.

During the last week, I tried making different types of soups and stir fried vegetables.  I am sharing with you the recipe of Lauki / Bottle Gourd Soup.  Lauki Soup is a light soup which helps to reduce weight. This is a perfect weight loss recipe. Bottle gourd soup is low in calories and fats but keep ones full for longer time, thus extra munching in between meals are avoided.

Take a quick look at the ingredients and method to make this soup...

Ingredients : 

Bottle Gourd/ Lauki - 250 gms

Diced Onion - 1/2  pc

Salt, Black Pepper as per taste (I used black salt)

Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp

Crushed garlic cloves - 1-2 pcs

Whole wheat flour - 1 tbsp (optional)

Olive oil - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves 1/4th cup (keep a steam aside to garnish)

Water as required

Method :

In a Cooker, add olive oil and when the oil is hot, add the cumin, coriander seeds.  When the color changes add the diced onion and saute this.  Now add the wheat flour and mix well. Add the cut lauki, crushed garlic, coriander leaves and saute well.  Now add enough water and salt and pressure cook this up to 2 whistles.

Allow this to cool and churn this in a mixer and put this in a kadai and allow to boil for a minute.  Serve hot by adding a dash of black pepper powder and coriander leaves.   Enjoy & Happy Dieting!!