Saturday, January 14, 2012

Moong Lentil with Bitter and Bottle Gourd - Moong Lau Uchche Dal

The recipe featured below is of a very unique lentil preparation. I tasted it first at the hands of my mom in law who concocted this flavoursome dal with bitter gourd and bottle gourd. Yes, you heard right...it has bitter gourd in it and yet it tastes awesome. Personally, I don't like anything tasting bitter. But the exquisite flavour of ginger and the sweetness of sugar mixed together overrides the bitter taste making it a pleasure to relish.

I have stuck to bottle gourd like my mom in law, but you may substitute bottle gourd with raw papaya. Needless to mention, this dal is a healthy kick. 





Ingredients:                                     Cooking time: 30 minutes
ü  150 gm of moong lentil
ü  1 medium sized bottle gourd (diced into cubes)
ü  1 large sized bitter gourd (sliced round)
ü  1 tsp nigella seeds (kalo jeera or kalonji)
ü  2 tsp cumin seeds (ground into paste)
ü  1 tsp ginger paste
ü  5-6 green chillies (slit in the middle)
ü  Salt to taste
ü  4-5 tsp of sugar or as per your sweet craving
ü  Mustard oil for cooking
Method:
1) Wash the moong lentil repeatedly with water.
2) Pressure-cook the moong lentil along with bottle gourd cubes in 2-3 cups of water till one whistle.
3) Heat couple of tbsp of oil in a pan. Fry the round sliced bitter gourd till they are brown in color. Keep them aside.
4) Into the same oil add nigella seeds and wait for them to crackle.
5) Add the cumin paste and sauté for 1 minute.
6) Now add the boiled moong lentil along with bottle gourd. Stir in. Add water according to your need of consistency.
7)  Add salt, sugar and green chillies and cook the lentil covered till they come to a boil. Slide in the fried bitter gourd roundels.
8) Mix in ginger paste just a minute before turning off the heat.
9) Serve hot with rice.


2 comments:

  1. interesting recipe.. even i dont like karela the bitter gourd... but bottle gourd with moong dal is made at my mom's with variations... karela with moong dal also done the dry method. since i dont like karela i dont make it.. good recipe though

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  2. YUMMY YUMMY..Thanks for posting

    Aarthi
    http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/

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