Kofta curry

When I was a kid we had a grove of papaya trees in the backyard, so I grew up on kofta curry. Now that raw papayas are no longer plenty, my mother uses lauki instead. This is her recipe- perfectly tailored to our tastes (or were our tastes tailored to meet her recipe). My only contribution is in making it "healthier"- I don't deep fry the koftas- a tip I picked up from Gauri Shirke.

For the kofta
One medium lauki, peeled, de-seeded and grated
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 cup besan
Red chilli powder to taste

For the gravy
2 medium onions chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp chilli powder
3 tbsp curd

Preparation
Fry the onions in 2 tsp oil till light brown, add tomatos and ginger-garlic paste, dry masalas and fry on very low flame till onions turn dark brown.
Cook for 2 minutes, add curd and water till desired consistency.
Cook for another minute, take off the flame.

Grate the lauki, keep aside for about 10 minutes and squeeze out the water.
Add ginger-garlic paste, salt and besan. Knead well.
Make small balls, press them to flatten.
On a non-stick frying pan, sprinkle 1 tsp water, and shallow fry koftas on a low flame till brown.

Add koftas to the curry, and bring to boil once.