Ridge Gourd Dal recipe is a comforting and easy one-pot pressure cooker recipe made with moong dal, ridge gourd, tomatoes, Indian spices, and cooked with pot-in-pot rice. This dal is also known as Beerakaya Pappu in Andra and is one of the most popular dals served in Andra restaurants and this can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
Ridge gourd is known as Heeerekai in Kannada, peerkankai in Tamil, beerkai in Telugu, tori or turai in Hindi, and also known as luffa in English.
Whenever I buy Ridge gourd, I usually prepare this dal, ridge gourd curry or I make my mom's style ridge gourd chutney.
Health Benefits of Ridge Gourd
Ridge gourd is extremely rich in dietary fiber and enriched with all the vital elements that include Vitamin-C, zinc, iron, riboflavin, magnesium, thiamine, and traces of other minerals.
It is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories that aids in weight loss - Source thedailystar
How to Make Ridge Gourd Dal in Instant Pot
This recipe shows how to make Ridge Gourd Dal or Beerekaya Pappu in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. The main difference with traditional Ridge Gourd Dal preparation is that this is a one-pot recipe. Usually, we cook the dal separately first and then add the tadka (tempering) to it.
Preparation:
Firstly wash, peel the skin of the ridge gourd and cut it into 1.5-inch pieces. If you cut too small, they will be mashed up with the dal.
Then rinse the moong dal, keep aside.
Method:
Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let them crackle.
Add asafetida, minced garlic, green chili, curry leaves, and saute for 15 secs. Then add chopped onion. Saute till onions turn light brown in color.
Add tomatoes along with dry spices turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and cook till tomatoes turn soft, which takes 2-3 minutes.
Then add chopped ridge gourd, rinsed lentils or dal, salt, water and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage.
**No need to soak the dal for this recipe.
Once you add all ingredients for Ridge Gourd Dal in the instant pot, place the trivet and then the bowl of rice with water. This way they will both cook together.
The big advantage of the Instant Pot is the option to do Pot-in-Pot Cooking or PIP. This means you can cook multiple things at the same time. See pictures below for reference.
Then 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. Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally (NPR) for 10 minutes.
Lastly, add cilantro and lime juice, Mix well.
Ridge Gourd Dal Recipe or Beerakaya Pappu is ready, serve hot with steamed rice, ghee, quinoa, or roti.
Note on the consistency:
If one wants really soft mashed dal, 8 minutes manual/pressure cook (High Pressure) is probably the ideal setting in manual mode.
But I like dals (lentils) to be a little firm so I selected 6 minutes Manual/Pressure Cooker (high pressure) option.
Accessories needed for this Dal and Rice Pot-in-pot Recipe
- Tall Trivet
- Stackable Steamer Insert Pans, or any oven-safe bowl
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- In a pressure cooker, add chopped ridge gourd, garlic, green chilies, onion, tomatoes, moong dal, turmeric powder, salt, water, and pressure cook up to 2 whistles.
- Meanwhile, prepare the tempering and add this tempering into the dal once cooked along with red chili powder and garam masala and let the dal simmer for 6-8 minutes.
- Add cilantro and lime juice, mix well serve Ridge gourd moong dal or Andra style Beerakaya Pappu hot with boiled rice, quinoa, or roti.
Serving Suggestions
Ridge Gourd Dal or Beerakaya Pappu is served traditionally with steamed rice, roti, or chapati. But can be eaten with quinoa, brown rice!
Tips & Variations
- Choose tender and fresh ridge gourd with no seeds. Always taste a small piece of ridge gourd, if it's bitter discard.
- Today I have used split yellow moong dal for this ridge gourd recipe but you can use any kind of dal/lentils like chana dal, toor dal, masoor dal, or a mixture of toor, masoor, and moong dal.
- If you are a South Indian and want to make sambar with ridge gourd, follow the same steps, instead of dry spices mentioned below add 1.5 tablespoons of sambar powder and some tamarind extract instead of lemon to make Ridge gourd sambar recipe.
- To make a simple dal, you can also skip onion and garlic.
More Instant Pot Lentil recipes
- Dal Tadka – Dal prepared with split pigeon peas lentils, assorted spices
- 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
- Lauki Chana Dal - Dal cooked with bottle gourd and Chana dal
Ridge Gourd Dal Recipe
Ingredients
Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250 ml
- ½ cup split yellow moong dal rinsed
- 2 cups ridge gourd(Turai/ Heerekai/Peerkangai) peeled and chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon ghee or coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds(jeera)
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 2 green chillies split into halve
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 stalk curry leaves
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 large tomato finely chopped
- salt to taste
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (coriander leaves) chopped
- juice of ½ lemon
Dry Spices:
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
For Basmati Rice
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1.5 cups water
- a pinch salt (optional)
Instructions
Instant Pot Method:
- Press Saute mode on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it’s hot add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
- Let them crackle.Add asafetida ,minced garlic ,green chili, curry leaves and saute for 15 secs.
- Then add chopped onion. Saute till onions turn light brown in color.
- Add tomatoes along with dry spices turmeric powder, red chili powder ,garam masala powder and cook till tomatoes turn soft ,takes 2-3 minutes.
- Then add chopped ridge gourd ,rinsed lentils or dal ,salt ,water and give a stir.Adjust spices at this stage.No need to soak the dal for this recipe.
- Once you add all ingredients for Ridge Gourd 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.Cancel Saute mode.Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and increase timer to 6 minutes. Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally(NPR) for 10 minutes (Wait until silver button on lid drops).
- Add cilantro and lime juice ,mix well serve hot with boiled rice, quinoa or roti.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker:
- In a pressure cooker, add chopped ridge gourd, garlic, green chilies, onion, tomatoes, moong dal ,turmeric powder, salt , water and pressure cook upto 2 whistles.
- Meanwhile prepare the tempering and add this tempering into the dal once cooked along with red chilli powder and garam masala and let the dal simmer for 6-8 minutes. Add cilantro and lime juice ,mix well serve hot with boiled rice, quinoa or roti.
Notes
- Choose tender and fresh ridge gourd with no seeds. Always taste a small piece of ridge gourd, if it's bitter discard.
- I have used split yellow moong dal for this recipe today but you can use any kind of dal/lentil like toor dal, masoor dal, or a mixture of two, masoor and moong dal.
- If you are a South Indian and want to make sambar with ridge gourd, follow the same steps, instead of dry spices mentioned below add 1.5 tablespoons of sambar powder and some tamarind extract instead of lemon.
- To make a simple dal, you can also skip onion and garlic.
- If your dal is watery, you can turn on the saute mode and cook for another 2-3 minutes in the end.
- If one wants really soft mashed dal, 8 minutes manual/pressure cook (High Pressure) is probably the ideal setting in manual mode. But I like dals (lentils) to be a little firm so I selected 6 minutes Manual/Pressure Cooker (high pressure) option.
- Vegan Variation: Skip ghee and use the oil of your choice.
Nutrition
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