My husband, Kalpesh, didn’t like lauki ki sabzi for the longest time. So I mostly made it for lunch on weekdays when he wouldn’t be eating with us. I made it Maharashtiran style, with goda masala and moong dal, using my mom’s recipe. Of late Kalpesh has been open to eating many sabzis which he avoided earlier, lauki being one of them. The one I make using Aai’s recipe is sweet because of goda masala and jaggery. Now Kalpesh prefers spicy food so I decided to try slightly spicy lauki chana dal sabzi.
I don’t make it very spicy and give the same one to Devansh by adding some curd in it. Often I make the sabzi more spicy for Kalpesh by adding chopped green chilies after setting aside some for Devansh and me. So if any of your family members have aversion to lauki because they find it too bland, you can try this chana dal and lauki ki sabzi recipe for them. It’s healthy, spicy, and yummy.
How to make lauki chana dal curry
Lauki Ki Sabzi Recipe – Using Chana Dal
Ingredients
- 3/4th cup chana dal chickpea / bengal gram
- 2 cups peeled and chopped bottle gourd lauki
- 2 finely chopped tomatoes
- 1 finely chopped onions
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 green chili
- 1/4th tsp cumin seeds jeera
- 1/5th tsp asafoetida hing
- 1/4th tsp turmeric powder haldi
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp home made ghee
Instructions
- Soak chana dal in water for an hour and then drain the water. Retain this water. (You can soak for 10-15 more if you want but make sure you let it soak for a minimum of one hour else chana dal won’t cook properly.)
- Cut green chili lengthwise in two pieces and deseed it.
- Heat a pressure cooker, add ghee, and then add cumin seeds.
- When cumin seeds start to splutter, add hing and green chili pieces.
- Add chopped onion and sauté till it turns translucent.
- Add grated ginger and saute for half a minute, and then add chopped tomatoes.
- Add haldi and red chili powder, and sauté till ghee starts to separate from masala.
- Add chana dal and sauté for half a minute, and then add chopped lauki.
- Add salt and garam masala powder and mix properly.
- Add half to 3/4th cup water (water in which chana dal was soaked) and cover the pressure cooker with a lid.
- Cook on medium-high heat for about 3 whistles.
- Take off the lid after pressure settles and then add chopped coriander.
- Mix properly and serve hot with chapatis.
Notes
- You can cook this sabzi in a kadai if you don’t have a small cooker. Cover the kadai with a lid and add more water than you would in a pressure cooker.
- Use light-colored, non-spicy green chili if younger kids will be having this sabzi. You can spice it up later by adding more chopped green chili pieces in the sabzi after setting aside the sabzi for kids.
- You can tone down the spiciness of the sabzi for the kids by mixing some curd in it.
