Tuesday 23 January 2018

Lau diye bhaja Muger dal / Roasted Moong dal cooked with Bottle Gourd

Lau diye dal
Today is Shitala Shasti, a day after Vasant Panchami or Saraswati Puja.
And today is the day that sets the approach of spring and summer ... read warmer seasons.
And so, today things that are cooling to the body and the digestive system are eaten .... usually cooked the night before and cooled and eaten today.
In preparation for the hot summer, today is the day when we switch from dense foods ... read winter vegetables to water laden and cooling summer vegetables.
My mother in law has a beautiful local rhyme that names the vegetables to be eaten on different seasons .... and for summer it is the bottle gourd, pumpkins, cucumber .... and so on.

I try to follow it as much as I can.
So, while I do not have a Gota Sheddho ( vegetables boiled whole, cooled and eaten today ) to post today, I do have this very light dal made with the bottle gourd for a light, cooling lunch or dinner.

Lau diye bhaja muger dal
As far as sheddhos / boiled things are concerned, I eat them throughout the year as you will know if you check out my mashes / makhas.
Even dals / lentils .... I like them plain boiled with just a little turmeric and very little salt.

This dal is very quick to make. And if you have roasted the moong dal and stored it, then it is even quicker.

Need :

Yellow mung dal - 1 cup
Lau / Lauki / Bottle gourd - 1 medium, chopped
Grated coconut - 5 tbsp ( optional )
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Whole dry red chillies - 2, broken
Tej pata / Bay leaf - 1
Roasted Jeera/ Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Haldi / Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Mustard oil - 1 tbsp Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Ghee - 1 tsp ( skip if you are vegan )
Water - 2 cups and a little more

How to :

In a heavy bottomed pan, dry roast the mung dal, on low heat, till aromatic and has a few specks of brown here and there.
Do not burn.

Heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker.

Add jeera + dry red chilli + bay leaf + grated ginger.

Add the chopped lau / bottle gourd and stir well.

Add the moong dal and stir well.

Add haldi + mirchi powder + roasted jeera powder + coconut.

Add salt + sugar.

Add water and pressure cook for two whistles.


Lau diye bhaja muger dal
Serve with a dollop of ghee and sprinkled roasted jeera powder + red chilli powder on top.

This goes great with rice as  well as rotis.

Enjoy!!







4 comments:

  1. I feel like dipping a spoon in the dal or best ...warm roti...
    Lovely placemat and bowl Which adds to the contrast
    Keep writing mam

    Take care
    Warm regards
    Luv,
    Ash

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right Ash ... warm roti goes best with it. :-)

      Delete
  2. God. There are so many versions of bhaja dal...you and bong mom are reliable ones for me....no experiments for me...esp when I am dry roasting dal��

    Take care,
    Warmest regards,
    Ash.
    Ps: I tried pui datar jol your style yest...too good...kept procrastination aside n made kashundi as well

    ReplyDelete


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