Lauki Chana Dal Stew

Lauki is known by several names around the world: Bottle gourd in English, lauki/dudhi/doodhi/Ghia in India, also Calabash in America, Opo in several other parts. Lauki is a popular veggie and can be found in Indian grocery stores specially inn the summer, Asian markets and some farmers market with a large Asian population. It has a pale green skin, an elongated body and also round. This summer gourd is long, cylindrical, has a mild flavor with high water content, a bit like zucchini. It is known for its nutritional benefits and a popular vegetable in Indian and many Asian cuisines.

How to Prepare and Cook Lauki Chana Stew

• SKIN: Peel the bottle gourd skin with a potato peeler. It is edible but unlike zucchini, the skin is thicker and not tender.
• SEEDS: you can eat the small, tender seeds like zucchini or cucumber. If the laud is mature the seeds will get hard in that case slice out the inner pulp width eh hard seeds that are embedded in the gourd. One way to look for tender laud is young pale green fruit and not very hard to the touch.
• PREP: peel the lauki and slice it all the way in the middle, then cut them into larger chunks so they kinda keep their shape in the dal. The white center cooks into dal turning mushy which is why I prefer large chunks.
• Chana dal not chickpeas is yellow split peas or yellow gram split yellow gram. Pre-soaking helps the chana dal soften, making the nutrients in the more bioavailable and breaks down the outer part helping with easy digestion and less of the discomfort associated with eating beans and lentils.
  
  

Lauki Chana Dal Stew

Meera

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Soaking time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Equipment

• Pressure cooker or Insta pot

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup chana dal washed and soaked for up to 1 hour
• 1½-2 lbs lauki peeled and diced into large cubes,
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1-2 black cardamom optional
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ¾ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes about 3 Roma
• 1-2 hot green chillies, deseeded for a milder flavor
• 2 tbsp avocado, olive or any mild flavored oil or ghee
• chopped cilantro for garnish

Instructions

 

• Soak the chana dal in water for 1 hour. Drain, rinse and set aside.
• For Pressure Cooker or Insta Pot Method: Warm oil/ghee to the pot. Add the cumin seeds, bay leaf, black cardamom, chopped onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes until the onions start to soften. add the garlic, ginger, salt and tomatoes, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Now add the turmeric, coriander, dal and lauki, mix well. Add up to ¼ cup water.
• Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Or in case of pressure cooker once the valve whistles lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Naturally release pressure. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti or steamed rice.
• For conventional method cook in a large sauce pan with fitted lid for 25-30 minutes until the dal is tender and lauki is fully cooked. You may need little extra water in case the dal dries out. I have always cooked this stew in a pressure cooker, so can't be 100% accurate about the conventional method.

Notes

• The stew will be slightly soupy with chana dal and pieces of lauki. To make the stew less soupy cut back on adding the water to couple of tablespoons of water instead of 1/4 cup. 
• Always soak the chana dal for at least one hour prior to cooking. The recipe is written for pre soaked chana dal. 

 

Keyword Dal, lentils, Vegan Curry, Vegetables

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