Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Keep it aside to be used later.

In a bowl, mix the ground almond and ground white poppy seeds. Keep it aside to be used later.

Slice off the stem portion and discard it. Then, divide the bottle gourd into 3 or 4 portions so it’s easy to peel and grate (watch the video to understand it better).

Using a sharp knife or a potato peeler, peel the skin. Save the peel to prepare the stir-fry dish. Grate the bottle gourd. If the seeds don’t feel tender, discard the portion using a sharp paring knife.

Place a heavy bottom deep pan on medium heat for frying the fritters. Place enough oil to reach a depth of about 1½ inch from the bottom of the pan. Let the oil heat up to about 300F.

Place the grated bottle gourd in a mixing bowl and add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon chili powder and the chickpea flour. Give it a mix to incorporate everything together. Make about 15 to 16 dumplings out of the mixture. Drop the dumplings in the hot oil. Do not over crowd the pan. Toss and turn around the dumplings until they turn golden brown in color. It should take about 5 minutes.

Keep the dumplings aside on a plate layered with kitchen towel.

Place a separate heavy bottom pan on medium heat and pour 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil heats up, drop the bay leaves, cinnamon barks, cumin seeds and the green cardamoms. Let it sizzle for a few seconds then, drop the chopped onion, ginger and garlic together. Sauté for 1 minute. Add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon chili powder. Stir and cook for 3 minutes

Drop the tomato, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Scatter the mix of ground poppy seeds and almond, stir and cook for 2 minutes.

Pour the water, bring the heat to high and let it come to a boil. Then, simmer at medium heat for 5 minutes. Drop the fried fritters and toss it around gently to coat it with the gravy. Cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the heat and leave it aside for 5 minutes. The fritters will continue absorbing more gravy.

Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve warm.