5 from 1 vote

Doi Potol was the dish that finally made me stop overthinking Bengali food. I had fried potol a hundred times before, but the day curd and cashew went into the pan instead of tomatoes, something clicked. The gravy turned pale gold, faintly sweet, almost silky, and my grandmother, watching over my shoulder, just nodded once, which from her is basically a standing ovation. It is not a dish that shouts. It sits quietly next to hot rice and lets the mustard oil do the talking. Some evenings, that is exactly the kind of dinner you need.

Table of Contents

Before You Start

Doi Potol (Pointed Gourd in Curd Gravy) is a delicious vegetarian dish.
I pair it with paratha, roti, naan, and jeera rice.
Sautéing and stir frying the spices, along with simmering the gravy, contribute to the perfection of the dish.
Doi potol tastes slightly sweet, creamy, and savory.
I always garnish the dish with fresh cilantro.
It needs about 40 minutes in total for me to make this dish including roughly 15 minutes prep time, 15 minutes cook time and 10 minutes resting time.
I feel Doi potol is closely related to Alu Potol Posto (potol with poppy seed paste) and Potoler Dolma (stuffed pointed gourd), which use the same vegetable but different gravy bases.

The Ingredients:

Pointed Gourd: 500 gms (washed the pointed gourds properly, cut off both ends, peel them in strips)
Curd: 3 tbl spoons
Cashew Nuts: 12
Onion-Ginger-Garlic Paste: Prepared with 1 Large-Sized Onion, ½ inch ginger and 5-6 Garlic Cloves
1 tbl spoon Coriander-Cumin Powder (½ tbl spoon Each of Coriander Powder and Cumin Powder)
Green Chilies: 3
Turmeric Powder: 1 tbl spoon
Red Chilli Powder: 1 tbl spoon
Sugar: ½ tbl spoon
Mustard Oil 3 tbl spoons
Whole Spices: Cinnamon Sticks: 2, Cardamom: 4, Cloves: 2
Salt to Taste

How to Cook Doi Potol (Step by Step Images)?

1. Mix the pointed gourds with salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

(Pro tip: You may prick each piece lightly with a fork first. It helps the masala seep in nicely later.)

2. Fire up the chullah (clay stove) but you can cook it on a gas stove as well.

3. Place a kadai on the clay stove.

4. Pour oil into the wok (kadai). Fry the pointed gourds from all sides until they turn golden brown. Take them out on a plate.

5. Add cinnamon sticks, cardamom, and cloves to the oil. Stir them until they release their flavors.

6. Add onion-ginger-garlic paste and sauté it well.

7. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder. Stir well.

8. Add a little bit of water to make a thick paste.

9. Add ½ tsp of salt and continue stirring. Add water if required. After the spices release oil, add the fried pointed gourds to the paste. Mix well for 5 minutes.

10. Add enough water to according to your grave requirement and curd-cashew paste and stir well. Add green chillies, salt to taste, and sugar.

11. After 5 minutes Doi Potol is ready and pour it into a bowl. Serve it with steamed rice, jeera rice, pulao. You can also pair the dish with Indian bread like roti or paratha or deep-fried puffed bread called Luchi.

Make It Your Way

I swap cashew for a handful of soaked almonds when I am out of stock.
Sometimes I skip the sugar entirely, especially when I find the tomatoes at home are unusually sweet.
I have used baby potatoes alongside the potol once, and honestly the gravy clung to them beautifully too.
To cook it faster, at times I skip the whole-spice tempering and just toss in store-bought garam masala right at the very end, and nobody at my table has ever noticed the difference.