While rainy days have a charm to them, nothing can make you feel lazier than a morning rain. Your early morning run gets cancelled and you just want to laze around in bed with a nice cup of coffee. I wanted to cook a simple and comforting dish for lunch so eventually, I managed to drag myself out of bed. I opened my fridge and found a beautiful slender piece of Lauki (bottle gourd) lying inside. That moment I decided that lunch was going to be Lauki Chana Dal (Lentil and Bottle Gourd Curry).
This is such a simple no-fuss curry dish. It is a healthy and wholesome meal that you just can’t go wrong with! I decided to keep this dish Satvik, which means that it is devoid of onion and garlic but feel free to add those ingredients if you like! I usually pair it with roti or rice but I occasionally consume it as a soup too! This delicious combination of Lauki or Doodhi or Ghiya (Bottle Gourd) and Chana Dal (Bengal Gram) is a good lunch box option also.
Try this super easy and yummy recipe and enjoy it with your family and friends! If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #theblissofcooking on Instagram. You may like to try our other similar recipes like Dhaba style Lauki Ki Sabji, Lauki Stew (Bottle Gourd) and Lauki Ka Kofta.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients for Lauki Chana Dal
1 cup Chana dal soaked
500 grams bottle guard (lauki)
2 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon cumin (jeera)
1 bay leaf
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1+1 tablespoon chopped coriander
For the paste
3 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon ginger paste/chopped
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mango powder (amchur)
½ teaspoon black salt (Kala Namak)
½ teaspoon sugar
Directions for Chana Dal Lauki
- Peel, wash and chop the lauki in cubes.
- Cut each tomato into 4 pieces.
- Pressure cook chana dal till half cooked. Now add the lauki, tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Switch off and wait for the pressure to release.
- Open the cooker, remove the tomatoes, peel them and mash coarsely. Set aside.
- Heat ghee in a pan; add cumin, bay leaves and hing.
- Add all the ingredients of the paste together in the water as mentioned in the ingredient section.
- Add this paste mixture to the pan.
- Saute till the ingredients thickens.
- Add the mashed tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of chopped coriander and saute till the tomatoes are mixed well with the masala paste and ghee starts to come out.
- Add the cooked dal and lauki and let it boil on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the garam masala, switch off the heat, check the seasoning and add coriander.
- Serve with roti, phulka and chapatti.
Note: If you like garlic, you can add it along with ginger in the paste. One can replace ghee with vegetable oil to make it vegan.
