LAUKI DAL RECIPE

Lauki Dal

Tasty Indian recipe with Lauki(bottle gourd) which is not a usual hit with people, but with Chana Daal it comes out be delicious and healthy dish which is easy to cook.

Prep Time: 10 Mins

Cooking Time: 30 Mins

Serves: 3-4 individuals

Ingredients:

Split Chickpeas (Chana Dal)- 100 gms (Soaked for 2 hrs.)

Bottle Gourd (Lauki)- 1 Medium sized (chopped into medium sized pieces)

Onion- 3 Medium sized (roughly sliced)

Tomato- 1 Medium sized (roughly chopped) - optional

Mustard Seeds (Sarson)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Fennel Seeds (Saunf)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Cumin Seeds (Zeera)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Caraway Seeds (Ajwain)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Nigella Seeds (Kalonji)- 1/2 Teaspoon

Mustard Oil- 3 Tablespoon

Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 Teaspoon

Turmeric Powder- 1 Teaspoon

Red Chilli Powder- 1 Teaspoon

Black Pepper- 1 Teaspoon

Cumin Powder- 1 Teaspoon

Curry Powder- 1 Teaspoon

Salt- As per Taste

Water- 300 ml

For Tempering (Tadka):

Onion- 1 Small (thinly sliced)

Green Chilly- 4 (chopped)

Clarified Butter (Ghee)- 2 Table Spoon

For Garnishing:

Green Chilly- 2 Pcs (chopped)

Coriander- 1 Tablespoon (chopped)

Method:

1. Take the soaked split chickpeas or chana dal and boil it with 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles.

Boiled Chana Dal

2. While the chana dal is cooking, we will prepare the Lauki.

Chopped Lauki

Sliced Onions

Chopped Tomatoes

3. First of all we will take a skillet or kadhai and will add oil to heat up.

I prefer using mustard oil in most of the Indian cuisines, however you can use refined oil as well.In case you are using mustard oil, make sure the oil heats up properly so as to avoid the strong smell of mustard oil later in your food.

Mustard Oil

4. Next we will add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds and let it splutter.

mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, fenugreek seeds and nigella seeds

5. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.

Ginger Garlic Paste

6. Add the sliced onions and cook it till it turns translucent on low to medium flame.

Sliced Onion

7. Add the tomatoes to the kadhai and mix it well. Cook for 4-5 minutes till the tomatoes soften up a little.

Chopped Tomato

8. Further, add all the powder spices; turmeric powder, red chilly powder, black pepper, cumin powder, curry powder and salt. Make sure you don't add too much of salt as there is already salt in the chana dal as well.

Powder Spices and Salt

9. Add the chopped bottle gourd to it, mix well and cook it for about 5 mins on low flame.

Bottle Gourd Added to the Kadhai

10. We will now turn off the flame and add the contents of the kadhai to the same cooker in which we had boiled the chana dal. You can add water if the water has dried up in boiling the chana dal, else it won't be required.

11. We will let the lauki cook with chana dal for upto 2 whistles and then turn off the flame.

Cooked Lauki added to the pressure cooker with chana dal

12. Let the cooker rest till we prepare the tempering. We will take 2 tablespoon of ghee and add the sliced onion and green chillies to it. We will cook the same till the onions turn light brown.

Green chilly and onion

Ghee, Onion and Green Chilly

13. Now add the ghee, onion and chillies to the cooker and cover the lid for few minutes.

Ghee with green chilly and onion added to the cooker

14. Garnish the Lauki Dal with some chopped green chillies and coriander.

Lauki Dal

Lauki Dal is ready to be served and tastes best with chapati or rice.

Tips, Tricks & Alternatives-

1. In case you don't find curry powder in the market, you can use the kitchen king masala also.

2. Tomato used in the above recipe is optional, you can avoid using the same if it is unavailable.

3. For tempering, butter can also be used instead of ghee.

Please do try out this simple yet amazing recipe and let me know your views in the comment section.

Also please check out my recipe of Pepper Chicken-

Chicken Kali Mirch 

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