Lauki Chana Dal (Instant Pot Recipe)

Name: Lauki Chana Dal (Instant Pot Recipe)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 400 min
Ingredients: 450 grams Lauki (bottle gourd) (1 & ½ cups diced thick); ¾ cup Chana Dal or Bengal Gram Dal; 3 Onions (small, finely chopped or use 1 large); 2 Tomatoes (small, finely chopped); 1 ½ tablespoon Peanut oil (or use avocado oil ); ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds or Jeera; 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste; 1 teaspoon Turmeric; 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Red chili powder; ½ teaspoon Garam Masala; ½ teaspoon Aamchur Powder (Dry Mango Powder) (substitute with juice of ½ a lime - check notes); 1 ½ cups Water; Salt to taste

By Vidya Narayan | October 17, 2022 | Last Updated: October 17, 2022

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Lauki Chana Dal is a sabzi, curry or gravy recipe made with Bottle Gourd (Lauki, Calabash) and Chana Dal (Bengal gram or split chickpeas). Serve with Chapati, Plain Paratha or Rice. Easy recipe using pantry staples under 30 mins. Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free and Soy Free.

lauki chana dal served in a black bowl garnished with coriander leaves

Lauki Chana Dal made in Instant Pot – simple, everyday sabzi that combines a low calorie, water rich veggie (lauki) and protein (Bengal gram dal or lentils). An easy weeknight meal that your family will enjoy.

I know there aren’t many takers for Lauki or Dudhi (hindi) and the hate is genuine. The vegetable basically has no taste unless its combined with other ingredients.

Lauki Halwa, an Indian dessert is one such example where the vegetable is totally transformed. However, we rarely talk about desserts on the blog - Agree?

Lauki Chana dal combines nutty chana dal and soft cooked lauki with spices making it perfect to serve with roti and rice. It needs a bit of preparation with soaking the chana dal (overnight or 2 hours in hot water) to ensure it cooks perfectly.

This low calorie veggie has many health benefits. Growing up, none of us loved Lauki but as we grow older and realize the importance of eating right, the focus on including such veggies becomes evident.

For instance we regularly make Lauki Thepla (whole wheat flatbreads with grated lauki), Lauki Raita (extremely beneficial for summer) and one of our favorite snack, Dudhi Muthiya (steamed snack). These recipes give a fun yet healthy twist to this otherwise boring veggie, especially for kids.

This is an Instant Pot recipe. It can be easily made in a pressure cooker as well. The recipe notes will cover all details.

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About Lauki
Ingredients
Variations
How to make Lauki Chana Dal in Instant Pot
Serving Suggestion
Storage / Leftovers
Other Indian Sabzi Recipes
Lauki Chana Dal (Instant Pot Recipe)

About Lauki

Lauki belongs the gourd family which means it has high water content and summer friendly. However, its available throughout the year in most Indian stores, supermarkets local markets etc.

In Tamil (my mother tongue), Lauki is called Sorakkai. In Hindi its called Ghiya, Dudhi or Lauki.

It is also known as Calabash or long melon. It is either pear shaped or slim and elongated.

Health benefits range from being heart healthy, promotes weight loss, high fiber and quite cooling for the body (ideal summer veggie).

Ingredients

Lauki – I have used ONE 450 gram (slim and elongated lauki). Once the peel is removed, you end up getting approximately 1 & 1/ 2 cups of diced lauki for making the sabzi.

Unlike other veggies, I would not recommend prepping lauki a day earlier. It instantly discolors (turns brown when exposed to air).

When choosing lauki, opt for the ones that are slim and long. It has less or negligible amount of seeds. Perfect for making desserts like lauki halwa or thepla etc.

Seeds are edible. However, try to avoid big ones. Scoop them out with a knife or spoon.

Since we are pressure cooking the sabzi, ensure the lauki is cut into thick chunks. This will prevent the vegetable from disintegrating completely.

Chana Dal (Bengal Gram Dal or split chickpeas) – Wash and soak the dal overnight or atleast for 2 hours.

In comparison to other lentils, Chana dal takes a while to cook and hence soaking is essential. As a rule of thumb, I prefer soaking lentils before cooking. Makes it easier to digest.

Onion – Tomato – Ginger Garlic Paste – Makes the sabzi delicious and gives it body and texture.

Spices – Turmeric, Red Chili, Garam Masala and Amchur (Dry mango powder). Amchur can be substituted with fresh lemon juice (add towards the end, before serving)

Variations

Experiment with spices. Sambar Powder or Rasam Powder is my number one choice. These spices are easily available in my pantry as I am a South Indian.

If you like flavors of Khatta (sour) and Meetha (sweet), add tamarind pulp and jaggery.

Along with the spices listed in the recipe card, you can add coriander powder, cumin powder, extra garam masala etc. Feel free to customize.

I have kept the heat from chilies bare minimum. You can add finely chopped green chilies or cayenne instead of Kashmiri red chili powder.

The recipe is gluten free and vegan. However, you can substitute peanut oil with ghee. If you are allergic to peanut oil, feel free to substitute it with any neutral flavor oil.

How to make Lauki Chana Dal in Instant Pot

Prep Work – Wash and Soak Chana Dal (overnight or for 2-3 hours in hot water). Drain the water and rinse well before proceeding with cooking.

Wash and peel lauki. Cut the top and ends, dice them into thick chunks. If the seeds are big, scoop out using a spoon or knife.

3 bowls each consisting of diced chunks of lauki or calabash, chopped onions and tomatoes

Switch on Sauté Mode, Once it displays “HOT” or “ON” add oil, cumin seeds. Once cumin toasts, add finely chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Sauté for 1-2 mins until the onions are translucent.

Next add chopped tomatoes and sauté for a couple of seconds.

sauteing onion, tomato, ginger garlic paste with cumin seeds for lauki chana dal sabzi

Now add the diced lauki, soaked and drained chana dal, spices and salt to taste. Cancel Saute Mode.

Add Water, mix once, scrape the sides and close the Instant Pot lid.

diced lauki, soaked chana dal and spices

water, lentils and lauki added to instant pot for pressure cooking

Pressure cook on high for 8 mins. Do a natural pressure release (approximately 15 mins).

Press Cancel. Open the lid and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve.

Serving Suggestion

close up image of vegan curry with calabash and lentils

Can be served with Roti, Plain Paratha, Naan etc. I also love dipping crusty sourdough in my sabzi at times.

Jeera Rice, Basmati Rice, Brown Rice or Quinoa are great options as the consistency of the sabzi works well with both rice and roti.

Storage / Leftovers

The sabzi is great for meal planning. Under refrigeration, it stays fresh for 4-5 days.

I have no experience of freezing this sabzi.

Other Indian Sabzi Recipes

Chana Saag (Chickpeas and spinach)

Kale Potato Sabzi

Aloo Gobi (Potato and Cauliflower dry sabzi)

Bhindi Masala

Mushroom Masala

Aloo Matar (Potato Peas Curry)

This post was originally published in February 2018. I have updated the recipe with fresh content and step-wise photos.

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