Ridge Gourd Dal Recipe

ridge gourd dal served in a bowl with poriyal and rice on the side

5 from 2 votes

Ridge Gourd Dal is a comforting and an easy one-pot pressure cooker recipe made with moong dal,ridge gourd, tomatoes and indian spices and cooked with pot-in-pot rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword dal recipes, healthy, instant pot ridge gourd dal, moong dal recipes

Diet Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Method Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker, Stovetop

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 175kcal

Author Bhavana Patil

Equipment

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 coriander leaves chopped
juice of ½ lemon

Dry Spices:

For Basmati Rice

1 cup basmati rice
1.5 cups water
a pinch salt (optional)

Instructions

Instant Pot 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.
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 the ingredients for Ridge Gourd Dal in the instant pot, place the trivet and then the rice bowl with water. This way, they will both cook together.
Close the lid securely, and turn the vent to "SEALING". Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL (High Pressure) setting and set the cooking time to 5 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, add coriander leaves and lime juice. Mix well.
Ridge Gourd Dal Recipe or Beerakaya Pappu is ready. Serve hot with steamed rice, ghee, 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 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 coriander leaves and lime juice, mix well serve Ridge gourd dal hot with boiled rice, quinoa, or roti.

Notes

I have prepared this dish in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT

Tips & Variations

Choosing Ridge gourd: Choose tender and fresh ridge gourd with no seeds. Always taste a small piece of ridge gourd, if it's bitter, discard it.
Lentils: I 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.
Ridge Gourd Sambar: If you are a South Indian and want to make sambhar with ridge gourd, follow the same steps, replace the dry spices mentioned in the recipe with, 1.5 tablespoons of sambar powder and some tamarind extract instead of lemon juice to make the Ridge gourd sambar recipe.
No-Onion No-Garlic: To make a simple dal, you can also skip onion and garlic.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition