Lauki Channa Dal

Exotic Squash ~ Lauki

Lauki and Channa dal

Lauki or Doodhi is also known as bottle gourd. These gourds contain some amounts of Vitamins C and B complex and also a few protein varieties. They contain a lot of water and hence makes them cooling and lubricating. Lauki generally has a very pale green smooth skin and it’s flesh is white. The size and thickness can vary widely. When buying lauki, choose young, light, firm and even in color without many blemishes. Scrape and discard harder portions of skin, and discard seeds if hard or too mature before cooking.

Lauki cooks in no time and since it does not have a predominant taste or smell by itself, it can very well marry the flavors and aroma of other vegetables and spices cooked with it. It is widely used in Ayurveda. My Mom-in-law extracts juice out of lauki every morning with some ginger and honey/brown sugar and drinks it in an empty stomach. It is supposedly very good for health.

Recipe:
1 medium size Lauki
1/2 cup channa dal (split yellow chickpeas)
1 medium size onion chopped
1 green chili chopped
2 – 3 tbsp dahi or curd(yogurt) beaten smooth
2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp dhania or coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
Salt to taste
2 tsp Oil

Pressure cook the channa dal until soft. Remove the skin of lauki and cut into small cubes. You can either pressure cook lauki until soft or place it in a vessel with some water, cover it with a lid and cook until soft. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, let it splutter. Now add the urad dal and wait until it turn golden brown. Now add the chopped onions, green chilies and saute well. Add the chili powder, dhania powder, turmeric, salt to the dahi and mix well. I know, I have never used dahi, but my mom-in-law made it once and it tasted great. So try it out with dahi. Add this mixture to the onions. Let it cook for sometime until oil separates. Now add the channa dal and lauki and bring it to a boil. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice or Paratha’s or Chappatis or Rotis or Naan bread or Tortillas.

Simple & Satisfying Lauki Channa Dal