Lauki Dal is a curry made of Bottle Gourd and Chana Dal. The vegetable and lentil combination together is really great and perfect for a vegetarian weeknight meal!
Lauki Dal is becoming a popular dal variation! It combines lauki (Bottle Gourd) with Chana Dal for a perfect vegetable and lentil combination. The soft chunks of lauki wrapped with channa dal is a satisfying curry perfect with roti or rice. Especially for vegetarians, this is a great option to upgrade your plain dal for any weeknight meal.
You have probably made dal, you have probably made lauki, but have you tried them together? This is a really nice combination that goes well together. The Lauki is cooked to a soft stage and the dal is also cooked but stays whole not mashed. The perfect match for a satisfying simple healthy vegetarian curry with rice and roti you have a complete weeknight meal.
You can make this in the pressure cooker if you like, but can easily be made in a regular non stick pot on the stove top. The pressure cooker will cook faster, but not required.
Makes 2-3 servings
Time: 15 mins with pressure cooker, 40 mins without on stove top
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Chana Dal
- 3/4 cup pealed, large diced Lauki about 1″ pieces (add more or less if you like)
- 3/4 cup small diced onion
- 3/4 cup small diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric (haldi)
- 1/4 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala or 1 tsp Dhanshak Masala
- 1 tsp cumin coriander powder (dhana Jeera)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp whole Cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds (rai)
- 1 small piece of Cinnamon stick
- 1 large black elcho or 3 small green elaichi’s
- 4-5 whole black peppercorns
- 3-4 whole cloves
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 1 green chili (dice them for more spiciness)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
- Optional: 1/4 cups peanuts (without skin)
Method:
- Wash the dal and soak in water for about 4 hours if possible. Drain the water when ready to cook.
- Peel the Lauki, cut in quarter lengthwise and scrape out the large seeds from the middle. Cut into 1″ pieces.
- In a nonstick pot of pressure cooker, on medium heat, add oil, all the whole spices, green chili, and curry leaves till they splutter for 2 mins
- Add onion, stir and cook for 4 mins till lightly brown
- Add ginger garlic paste and peanuts stir for just a min
- Add tomatoes, powder spices, salt and stir till mixed
- Add dal, Lauki, water and stir. If using Pressure cooker, close the lid, add the top and cook on medium for 15 mins. If cooking in regular non stick pot, cover with lid and cook for 40 mins. Stir in between. Check both dal and lentils are cooked through but not mashed.
- Stir in lemon juice and garnish with dhania.
- You can use any other dals or mix them if you like for a different variation.
- If you like your dal more softer, cook longer until you like the consistency.
- Find many other vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes in the Curry Section.