Winter is the season to enjoy your comfort food!
I sat on my kitchen island chair with cup of coffee enjoying the calmness and admiring the blue sky the whole bay area woke up to this morning! As my brain was getting ready to start the day I looked at the date; it’s already end of January! And there is still so much to be done!
I have been fairly occupied this month so far and coming months are going to get busier. This year I have new job, I am now a full time food blogger! It’s an open sea of possibilities and from time to time I get lost. What am doing? Am I making a mistake? Go away, you practical brain! In times like this I take a pause and find comfort in my two favorite activities: cooking and reading.
This quick and yet another one pot meal falls in the list of my comfort food.
Bottle gourd or Dudhi is squash cousin; watery and soft from inside and cooks really quick.
I am not a picky eater but growing up lots of my friends despised eating dudhi by itself. But combining it with tangy chana dal makes both kid and their mom happy! For kids they get an additional texture of chana dal, not just squishy bottle gourd and moms are happy because her kids now eats dudhi!
You can eat this dal over warm rice or scoop it with roti or just serve it in a bowl and have it as a stew. Your pick!
Dudhi Chana Dal
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped dudhi (bottle gourd)
- 1 cup channa dal
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- pinch of asafetida(hing)
- 1 onion medium size, chopped
- 3 tomates chopped
- 1 green chili minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 5 garlic gloves minced
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp coriander cumin powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 - 2 lemons
- salt
- sugar
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Wash and soak Chana dal in enough water while you prep other ingredients. Drain the water and keep aside.
- Set Instant Pot to saute mode and heat oil. Add hing and cumin seeds, cook them for a few seconds or until aromatic.
- Add onions with pinch of salt and let onions cook until soft.
- Next add ginger, garlic and green chili and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes with pinch of salt and 1/2 cup water; let it cook until tomatoes are soft.
- Stir in all spices (turmeric, red chili, cumin coriander powder and garam masala). Add another 1/2 cup water and let the spices cook for a minute.
- Add soaked chana dal and chopped bottle gourd and mix to combine.
- Add just enough water to cover the dal and dudhi completely.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing and pressure cook for 12 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally.
- Add lemon and sugar as per your liking. Also add more salt if necessary.
- Garnish it with chopped cilantro. Serve warm with roti!
