Lauki Chana Dal - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

This Lauki Chana Dal is a nutritious and healthy dal recipe prepared with Bottle Gourd (aka Lauki, Dudhi, or Ghiya), lentils, and few spices making it a perfect dish for a wholesome lunch or busy weeknights. Lauki Chana Dal sabzi is an easy one-pot Punjabi style dish that can be prepared in an Instant Pot or traditional Indian pressure cooker under 30 minutes. Vegan, Gluten-free.

Traditionally, Lauki and chana dal is cooked in a stovetop pressure cooker or pot and finished off with a tempering (tadka). Today I am sharing a one-pot Bottle Gourd Lentil Curry made in the Instant Pot with an extra ghee tadka added at the end.

This Lauki chana dal is an easy and healthy recipe that goes very well with roti or chapati and rice. 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.

Do check more Indian bottle gourd recipes from my blog like Lauki Paratha, Lauki Sabji, Lauki Raita and Lauki Soup.

Health Benefits of Bottle Gourd & Chana Dal

Bottle gourd has always been one of the healthiest vegetables. This vegetable is full of water about 92% and has minerals to keep your body hydrated. It also helps in weight loss, cools your body, helps in digestion, helps in treating sleeping disorders.

Chana dal ( known as split chickpeas or Bengal gram) is a great source of plant protein and also diabetic friendly as it has a low glycemic index of around 8.

Lauki Dal Ingredients

• Lauki (bottle gourd): I used 1 medium lauki, about 500 grams (approximately 3 cups). 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 compared to lauki.
• Green chilies: I have used two green Thai chilies.
• Ginger and garlic: I have used minced ginger and garlic.
• Onion: I have 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 garlic.
• Tomatoes: I have used Roma tomatoes.
• Oil: Use any vegetable cooking oil.
• Dry spices: I have used turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala. You can increase or decrease the spices according to your choice.
• Coriander leaves: I have used coriander leaves for garnish.

How to make Lauki Chana Dal in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Firstly, 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.

Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot add cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Then add asafetida, minced ginger-garlic, green chili, and saute for 15 secs.

Add onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

Then add in the chopped tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, lauki, soaked lentils or dal, salt, water and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage.

Furthermore, close the lid on the pot, and turn the pressure valve to the SEALING position. Then set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and timer to 8 minutes.

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

Lastly, squeeze some lime juice, add garam masala and garnish with 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 few more minutes and vaporize the water. In case if 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 above. 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 and cook onion tomato base and assemble with cooked chana dal and lauki. 

Serving Suggestions

Lauki Chana Dal recipe or Dudhi Chana Dal is served with roti, chapati, or steamed rice. However, I personally like it with steamed rice and spinach raita.

Tips & Variations

1. Chana dal requires a longer cooking time so soaking in enough water for 30 minutes is recommended.
2. Dice the lauki into larger chunks to retain their shape in the dal after pressure cooking.
3. You can also replace bottle gourd with zucchini or pumpkin.
4. You can also add potato cubes or other veggies into this curry along with lauki.

More Instant Pot Dal Recipes

• Dal Tadka – Dal prepared with split pigeon peas lentils, assorted spices
• Chana Dal Fry - Dal prepared with split chickpeas lentils, assorted spices
• Green Lentil Soup – lentil soup made with green lentils, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, and Indian spices
• Whole green moong dal– Dal cooked with whole mung beans
• Spinach Dal / Palak Dal – Dhal cooked with spinach leaves
• Panchmel dal – dal prepared with five varieties of lentils
• Red Lentils/Masoor dal - Dal prepared with red lentils

If you love Lentils & Beans and looking for more Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Then here are my 22+ Instant Pot lentils & Beans Recipes you must try.