Butternut Squash Dal (Instant Pot & Stovetop)

Butternut Squash Dal recipe is a comforting and easy dal made in Instant Pot pressure cooker with toor dal (split pigeon peas lentils), butternut squash, tomatoes, Indian spices and cooked with pot-in-pot rice. This butternut squash lentil curry is vegan, gluten-free, and pairs well with rice, quinoa, roti.

What is Dal?

Dal also called Daal, Dhal, or Dahl basically are dried pulses that can be whole or split. Dal is naturally Vegan and Gluten-free and is a great source of proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, and many essential vitamins and minerals. Every region in India makes dal in different ways. Dal is frequently eaten with flatbreads such as rotis or chapatis or with rice.

Other Indian Butternut squash recipes from my blog to try are Butternut squash Soup, Butternut squash pasta, Butternut squash stirfry with coconut, Butternut squash paratha, Butternut squash coconut curry.

How to make Butternut Squash Dal in Instant Pot

Firstly, soak toor dal (split pigeon peas) for 15 minutes in hot water.

Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot add cumin seeds. Let them crackle.

Then add ginger garlic paste, asafetida, green chili, chopped onion. Saute till onions turn light brown in color.

Add tomatoes along with dry spices turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and cook till tomatoes turn soft, which takes 2-3 minutes.

Then add diced butternut squash, rinsed & soaked lentils or dal, salt, water and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage.

Once you add all ingredients for Butternut squash Dal in the instant pot, place the trivet and then the bowl of rice with water. This way they will both cook together.

Close the lid on the pot and turn pressure valve to SEALING position.

Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and increase the timer to 6 minutes. If you don't have time to soak the dal, then increase the timer to 8 min high pressure.

Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally(NPR) for 10 minutes.

Lastly, add cilantro and lime juice, mix well. Serve instant pot lentil butternut squash curry hot with boiled rice, quinoa, or roti.

Accessories needed for this Dal and Rice Pot-in-Pot recipe

1. Tall Trivet
2. Stackable Steamer Insert Pans, or any oven-safe bowl

Stove Top Pressure Cooker Method

Follow the steps from the instant pot instructions. Give 2-3 whistles on medium flame and let the pressure release naturally. All the other steps remain the same.

Serving Suggestions

Butternut Squash Dal (lentil) curry is served traditionally with steamed rice, roti, or chapati. But can be eaten with quinoa, brown rice!

Tips & Variations

1. The size of the pieces of butternut squash is very important, try to dice each piece of 1.5 inches so that the squash won't get mushy and dissolve in the dal.
2. Today I have used toor dal (split pigeon peas) for this butter squash recipe but you can use any kind of dal/lentils like red lentils (masoor dal), chana dal, split yellow moong dal, or a mixture of toor, masoor, and moong dal.
3. Don’t skip out on soaking the toor dal for at least 15-20 minutes – toor dal takes a longer time to cook than butternut squash. Soaking softens the lentils and cooks faster, hence butternut squash will not turn mushy.
4. You can also add bottle gourd, zucchini, or pumpkin to this dal.
5. To make a simple no onion-no garlic dal, you can also skip onion and garlic.

If you liked this recipe do checkout Lentil/Beans recipes from my blog

• Dal Tadka – Dal cooked with toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas).
• Green Lentil Soup – lentil soup made with green lentils, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, and Indian spices.
• Spinach Dal / Palak Dal – Dhal cooked with spinach leaves.
• Whole green moong dal– Dal cooked with whole mung beans.
• Panchmel dal – dal prepared with five varieties of lentils.
• Raw Mango Dal – Dal cooked with Raw Mango.

Explore more Lentil recipes for your family gathering.

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