Bottle Gourd Dal / Bengali Lau Daal (Instant Pot)
Bengali-style lau daal made with bottle gourd is so full of flavors and easy to make. Made with petite yellow lentils or moong dal, this lauki dal is absolute comfort food.
Servings: 6
Calories: 210kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium bottle gourd cut into cubes
- 1½ cup moong dal
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 dry red chilli
- 1-2 green chili finely chopped (or as per taste)
- ½ inch ginger finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1-1½ teaspoon salt (adjust as per taste)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon cilantro
- ½ lemon or lime
- 5 cups water
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot on saute mode. Add moong dal and dry roast it for 2 minutes. Take the roasted dal out of the pot and wash it well.
- Next, add oil to the IP inner pot and let it heat.
- Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, and dry red chili. Saute for a few seconds.
- Add the ginger, green chili, ground cumin, ground turmeric, salt, and sugar. Saute for one minute on low mode (see notes)
- Add the bottle gourd, dal, and tomato. Add 5 cups of water and mix well.
- Secure the IP lid. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook mode on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
- Open the lid. Add the lemon juice and cilantro. Serve hot with rice.
Video
Notes
After adding ground spices and ginger, make sure the IP is on "Low" to prevent the spices from burning. Alternatively, add 1-2 tablespoons of water and saute them.
Select a fresh and tender bottle gourd to make the dal. See the above section on how to select a bottle gourd.
Moong dal can be replaced with toor dal or chana dal in this recipe. In that case, pressure cook for 6 minutes instead of 5 minutes.
You can make this dal on a stovetop pressure cooker. Follow this recipe and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
Nutrition
Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 51mg | Potassium: 35mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 140IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 2mg