Ghiya Wali Chana Dal

By Reena KukrejaOrigin: Punjab, India

VegetarianChanna DalLight

Flavour Notes

This Punjabi dal is a light and refreshing dal served in the summer. Ghiya Wali Chana Dal or bottle gourd chickpea daal is often served with jeera rice, and raita. There is also a link to a bonus recipe Reena shared made with the skins of the bottle gourd.

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups of chana daal, washed until water is clear, and then pre-soaked overnight. (see notes)
2 small bottle gourd, about 650g. (see notes)
Tempering Ingredients
2 Tbsp of ghee
2 tsp of cumin seed
2-3 dried red chilis
2-3 cloves (optional)
Notes
For a quicker soaking time, soak chana in warm water for 4 hours
You can find bottle gourd in the International produce section of grocery stores. Buy bottle gourd that are small, and firm to touch, not overly soft because you don't want the flesh inside to be too soft.

Method

Drain the soaked chana daal and place in pressure cooker or pot.
Add at least 1 L of water to pressure cooker. You can add less to pot (since you can add water as needed)
Peel the bottle gourd's skin. If you want to make this side dish with the skin and potatoes, then peel a thick layer of skin, about 5mm using a paring or small kitchen knife. Otherwise you can use a potato peeler for a thinner peel.
Once peeled, cut the bottle gourds in half length-wise and then slice it into 3 long strips. Then cut the stripes into 1cm pieces. Though slightly larger is fine too.
Turn the heat on for hte pressure cooker (don't close lid yet) or the pot to bring the chana to a boil and then cook it for about 5 min,
skim any foam off the top, until water looks clearer
add 1 tsp of turmeric and a bit less than 1 tsp of salt
assess if need more water, add if needed (we added 1/2 cup)
add bottle gourd and close the pressure cooker or cover the pot with lid
If using a pot, cook for 20 min
cool the pressure cooker by running cold water on the side of the pot
in a pan, heat 2 tbsp of ghee, when bubbling a bit, the ghee is ready
Add 1 and 1/2 tsp of cumin seed and 2 whole dried red chilis, broken into 2-3 pieces, let it cook until you can hear the sizzling
add to the daal along with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Notes

Eat with: Zeera rice, raita and veg side

Zeera Rice

1 cup of long grain or basmati rice, washed until water is clear
heat a pan add 1 tbsp of ghee
add 1/2 tsp of zeera, and 3 cloves, 1 Indian bay leaf/tej patta until spices toasted
add the soaked, drained rice and coat it in spices and ghee for a few minutes on a low-med heat
then add 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of salt. You can reduce cooking time by adding boiling water. Bring to a boil and cover pan
reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10-15 min until water is mostly absorbed or set timer for pressure cooker for 10 min or 7-8 whistles

Raita yogurt, dry roasted and ground cumin seeds, water, salt, black pepper

Bottle Gourd Skin with Potatoes

Ingredients: thick peel of 1-2 bottle gourds shopped into 1 cm pieces, 3 small potatoes around 75g, cut into 1cm pieces, panch puran (1 pinch of mustard seed, 1 pinch of cumin seed, 1 pinch of coriander seed, 1 pinch of fennel seed, a smaller pinch of nigella/kalonji seed)
Method: chop the bottle gourd skin
Put 1 tbsp of ghee in small pot on med heat
measure panch puran. take 1/2 tsp and put it in a mortar and pestle to release some of the oils before you add it to the ghee
add the slightly crushed panch puran to the ghee
then add the chopped potatoes and bottle gourd skins
add less than 1/4 tsp of turmeric to the pot, stir it all together to coat. Cook for several minutes covered so that the steam cooks the vegetables.
add a bit of water when sticking on the side, about 1/8 cup and not higher than 1/2 way up vegetables
when potatoes cooked it is ready.
Add less than 1/2 tsp of ghee and less than 1/2 tsp of sugar. Stir and serve.