Bottle gourd/Lauki and Dal Curry

Bottle gourd/ Lauki and dal is a delicious combination and is a great accompaniment with rice or chapatis. It is light and filling with the touch of cumin and a bit tangy from tamarind and tomatoes. I was not much confident to try bottle gourd mainly because we never had much of this veggie in our part of Kerala. Its freshness and tenderness attracted me that I finally decided to give it a try. I did not have a recipe and decided to  try my moms spinach dal recipe,but used lauki instead. Try this recipe..you will surely love it. 

Ingredients
Bottle gourd- 1 medium sized tender
Chana dal- 1/2 cup
Onion -1 medium
Green chilly-  2-3
Tomatoes - 1
Garlic- 2 cloves(crushed)
Turmeric powder- 1/3 tsp
Chilli powder- 1 tsp
Cumin - 1/3 tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch
Tamarind- a small lemon sized ball
( soak in half cup of water)
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp. 

Cook soaked chana dal in  two to three cups of water till it gets mashed up( soak at least for one hour)
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add garlic, green chilly, curry leaves, turmeric and a pinch of asafoetida. Add finely chopped onions and saute till golden brown. Now add cubed bottle gourd/lauki and tomatoes. Add chilly powder and mix well and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked dal and tamarind pulp and allow to simmer and thicken for two more minutes.Serve with rice or chapatis.

Try this..
Hope you will enjoy..