What do you do when you don’t find bottle gourd/lauki in your regular superstore? Find the next best thing and use just like you would use the bottle gourd. Such a vegetable for me is zucchini. Zucchini is so versatile that it can be cooked in any form or even eaten raw. Being almost tasteless, it’s can be modified to suit one’s palate.
I have been looking forward to make this kind of dal with zucchini and spinach for quite sometime. And when I had all the ingredients I jumped right into it.
A comforting dish made by cooking together zucchini , spinach and toor dal along with onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic , this dal can either be had with rice or roti/phulkas.
So, let’s don our apron and start cooking this dal shall we?
INGREDIENTS
Serves – 4-5
- Toor Dal (Pigeon Pea) – ½ cup
- Zucchini – 1 large, chopped into bite size pieces
- Baby Spinach – 1.5 cup tightly packed
- Tomato – 1 large, finely chopped
- Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped
- Crushed ginger garlic – 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Asafoetida – 1 pinch
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Chilli powder – ½ tsp
- Coriander powder – ¾ tsp
- Oil/ghee – 2 tsp
- Water – as needed
- Salt – to taste
METHOD
1. Pressure cook the toor dal with some salt for 3 whistles.
2. Heat the oil and add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they splutter add in the chopped onion and fry till they turn soft.
3. Add the crushed ginger garlic and cook till the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, asafoetida, chilli powder and coriander powder. Mix well and cook closed till the whole mix turns mushy.
5. When the tomatoes turn mushy add in the chopped zucchini and baby spinach and mix well. Cook closed for few minutes.
6. Once the spinach starts to wilt, add the cooked dal. Add salt and some water to adjust the consistency. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes on low flame.
7. Serve hot with rice or phulkas.
NOTES
- Normal long leaf spinach can be used in place of baby spinach.
- Adjust the consistency of the dal as per your own preference. If making for phullkas/chapathis let it be on the thicker side and if preparing for rice let it be a bit thin.
- Green chillies can be used as a substitute for red chilli powder. Use about 2 medium green chillies for the above quantity.
The Greedy Tummy 