Start by washing the bottle gourd and the tomatoes. Now you cut off the stem and peel the bottle gourd. Cut it in big pieces and place these pieces with 100 ml water into a pot. Bring the water to a boil and let the bottle gourd boil in it for five minutes with a closed lid. After these five minutes, when the vegetable pieces are fairly soft, take the pot off the stove.

Now you take another pot with water, put the tomatoes into it and bring them to a boil. The water has to boil for about two minutes for the skin of the tomatoes to crack. When it does, you can drain the water and as soon as the tomatoes are soft enough, you can peel them.

You can now add both, the tomatoes and the bottle gourd pieces together into a blender, add a bit of salt and make puree out of them. When they are mixed well, put the puree aside.

It is time for you to prepare the tarka, which is the mixture of spices to add into your dish. Heat up the oil in a pan and then add cumin seeds, coriander powder and garam masala. Stir while the spices are getting roasted. Once they are spreading their wonderful smell in your kitchen, you can add the mixture of tomatoes and bottle gourd. Stir well to mix it. Bring the soup to a boil – and ready you are!

Enjoy your meal!