Lauki Chana Dal is a healthy and nutritious lentil dish made with bottle gourd (also known as lauki, dudhi, or ghiya), chana dal, and a blend of Indian spices. This comforting Punjabi-style sabzi is ideal for a wholesome lunch or busy weeknights. It can be prepared effortlessly in an Instant Pot or traditional pressure cooker in under 30 minutes. Plus, it's vegan and gluten-free!
I'm a big fan of lauki and always make sure to include it in at least one dish every week. Today, I'm sharing my easy and healthy one-pot Lauki Chana Dal recipe. This comforting dal pairs wonderfully with roti or steamed basmati rice, making it a perfect meal for busy days.
I make this dal quite often at home. I make similar varieties of dal with vegetables like zucchini dal, butternut squash dal, ridge-gourd dal, and raw mango dal.
Traditionally, lauki and chana dal are prepared in a stovetop pressure cooker and finished with a flavorful tempering (tadka). Today, I'm sharing a Instant pot and stovetop pressure cooker versions below.
More Indian Lauki Recipes, you may like
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Ingredients
- Lauki (bottle gourd): Wash the Bottle Gourd, peel the skin, discard any seeds, and cut into 1-inch pieces else, small lauki pieces will get mashed in the pressure cooker. Lauki is easily available in any Indian grocery or Asian store.
- Chana Dal: Soak chana dal for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours because chana dal takes longer to cook than lauki.
- Ginger and garlic: I used minced ginger and garlic.
- Onion: I used finely chopped onions for this recipe for the base. You can prefer to skip it if you are making lauki chana dal recipe without onion or garlic.
- Tomatoes: I used Roma tomatoes.
- Dry spices: I used turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala.
How to Make Lauki Chana Dal in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Firstly, soak 1 cup chana dal in 2 cups of cold water for at least 30 minutes. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
Chana dal takes a longer time to cook than lauki. Soaking it softens it and ensures that both the dal and lauki are evenly cooked in the instant pot.
Wash bottle gourd, peel the skin, deseed, and cut into 1-inch pieces. Make sure to cut the lauki into larger chunks to keep their shape in the dal when pressure is cooked. You should get 3 cups of diced lauki for this recipe.
Press Saute on Instant Pot. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, then add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Then add 1 pinch of asafetida, 1 tablespoon of minced ginger-garlic, 2 green chili, and saute for few seconds.
Add 1 cup of finely chopped onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes until onions turn soft and translucent.
Then add in 1 large chopped tomato. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, 3 cups lauki, soaked dal, salt, 1.5 cups water, and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage.
Close the lid securely, and turn the vent to "SEALING". Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL (High Pressure) setting and set the cooking time to 8 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then release any remaining pressure before removing the lid.
Lastly, squeeze 1 tablespoon lime juice, add ½ teaspoon garam masala, and garnish with 2 tablespoons coriander leaves. Mix well.
Instant pot Lauki chana dal (dudhi chana dal) is ready to serve. You can add extra ghee tempering (tadka). Serve hot with steamed rice, quinoa, or roti.
Note on the consistency:
If dal has more liquid, try to boil it for a few more minutes and vaporize the water. In case you pressure cook for more time, lauki will get mushy. I suggest pressure cooking for about 7-8 minutes.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
Follow the same steps as the Instant Pot. Just cook the lauki chana dal on a stovetop pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles on medium flame. Rest all the steps remain the same.
Stovetop Pot Method
Soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours. Cook covered in a pot for 30-35 minutes on medium flame. Lentils must be soft and nicely cooked. Cook the bottle gourd soft in a separate pot.
Follow the step-by-step process, prepare the tempering, saute onion tomato base, and assemble with cooked chana dal and lauki.
Lauki Dal Serving Suggestions
Serve Lauki chana dal with roti, chapati, basmati rice, or quinoa. You can also pair spinach raita and kachumber salad on the side.
Storage Suggestions
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover bottle gourd lentil curry in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- Freeze: You can store the lauki chana dal in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to one month.
- Reheat: Reheat dal with some water on the stovetop or in the microwave oven. Defrost if frozen, before reheating.
Tips & Variations
- Soaking Lentils: Chana dal requires a longer cooking time, so soaking in enough water for 30 minutes is recommended.
- No Onion-No Garlic: You can make this dal by skipping onion, and garlic as well.
- Large Lauki Pieces: Dice the lauki into larger chunks to retain their shape in the dal after pressure cooking.
- Other Veggies: You can also add cubed potato or other veggies to this curry along with lauki. You can adapt the same recipe using other vegetables like zucchini, butternut squash, or pumpkin.
More Instant Pot Indian Lentil Recipes
- Dal Tadka – Dal prepared with split pigeon peas lentils, assorted spices
- Chana Dal Fry - Dal prepared with split chickpeas lentils, assorted spices
- Whole Green Moong Dal – Dal cooked with whole mung beans
- Spinach Dal – Dhal cooked with spinach leaves
- Panchmel Dal – dal prepared with five varieties of lentils
Lauki Chana Dal Recipe - Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal (bengal gram) (soaked for ½ hour)
- 2 cups water for soaking dal
- 500 grams lauki (bottle gourd) peeled, de-seeded and chopped about 1 inch pieces (about 3 cups)
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 1 large tomato finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic minced
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1.5 cups water for cooking
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt to taste
Spices:
- 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 pinch hing (asafetida)
Extra Tempering: (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 pinch red chilli powder
Instructions
Preparation:
- Soak the chana dal in cold water for at-least 30 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside. Chana dal takes a longer time to cook than lauki. Soaking it softens it and makes sure that both the dal and lauki are evenly cooked in the instant pot.
- Wash Bottle Gourd, peel the skin, dee-seed and cut into 1 inch pieces. Make sure to cut the lauki into larger chunks so they keep their shape in the dal when pressure cooked.
Instant Pot Method:
- Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot add cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Add asafetida, minced ginger garlic, chopped green chili and saute for 15 secs. Then add chopped onion. Saute till onions turn light brown in color.
- Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes turn soft, takes 2-3 minutes.
- Then add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, lauki, soaked lentils or dal, salt, water and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes (Wait until silver button on lid drops).
- Squeeze some lime juice, add garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves (cilantro). Mix well.
- Lauki Chana Dal is ready, you can also add extra tempering(tadka) and serve hot with boiled rice, quinoa or roti.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method:
- Follow the same process mentioned above for instant pot.Give 3-4 whistles on medium flame and let the pressure release naturally. All the other steps remain the same.
Video
Notes
Tips & Variations
- Soaking Lentils: Chana dal requires a longer cooking time, so soaking in enough water for 30 minutes is recommended.
- No Onion-No Garlic: You can make this dal by skipping onion, and garlic as well.
- Large Lauki Pieces: Dice the lauki into larger chunks to retain their shape in the dal after pressure cooking.
- Other Veggies: You can also add cubed potato or other veggies to this curry along with lauki. You can adapt the same recipe using other vegetables like zucchini, butternut squash, or pumpkin.
Nutrition
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