Ridge Gourd and Masoor Dal Vegetable is a powerhouse of the goodness of a healthy vegetable and legume.
ThisTurai Aur Masoor Dal Sabji tastes very good with chapatti or roti but will taste just as good with rice too. Steamed rice and homemade ghee, papad and pickle…. I am in heaven, Comfort food. Today we had it with jowar roti. So in this series of Simple and Healthy Vegetarian Diet join me in the #Cooking Carnival.
Ridge Gourd and Lentils Vegetable
Ridge gourd or Turai in Hindi is also known as Luffa acutangula, turiya, heerakai, dodka, Sponge gourd or Chinese Okra. Masoor dal is a flat, red gram that has made from skinned and split masoor beans very high in proteins. You can check out more about Turai here and masoor dal here.
My colleague and friend Mabel often bring this” sabzi” as she calls it and I loved it. It was she who suggested that I can add either moong or red lentil. I preferred it with masoor dal as it’s easy to cook and is almost invisible once cooked. The beauty of masoor dal is that you can give it any flavour you want.
Anyway, let’s get down to today’s recipe which is healthy and tasty. Turai aur masoor dal is the best I have tasted till now.
Ridge Gourd and Masoor Dal Vegetable
Turai Aur Masoor Dal Sabji
Ingredients:
For the vegetable:
- Ridge gourd 1 ½ cup, peeled and diced
- Red lentil/masoor dal ½ cup soaked in water for 10-15 minutes
- Onion 1 diced
- Tomato 1 diced
- Garlic cloves 2, chopped fine
- Green chillies 2-3, slit
- Garam masala ½ teaspoon (I used kanda lasun masala)
- Salt to taste
- Sugar ½ teaspoon (optional)
For the Tempering:
- Oil 1 tsp
- Rai/mustard seeds ½ tsp
- Jeera/cumin seeds ¼ tsp
- A few Methi/fenugreek seeds (optional)
- Haldi/turmeric powder ¼ tsp
- Hing/asafoetida ¼ tsp
To Garnish:
Dhania/ coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
- First, rinse and soak the dal in about ½ cup of water.
- Peel the ridge gourd and dice them. It’s a good idea to taste the slice as there is a chance that the ridge gourd is bitter.
- Peel and dice the onion and tomato. Finely dice the garlic.
- In a thick kadhai/wok heat the oil. Splutter the rai/mustard seeds, jeera/cumin and add the methi seeds. Take care that the methi does not blacken as then the tempering will turn bitter.
- Add the hing/asafoetida and Haldi/turmeric.
- Put the garlic in the oil. And fry till the raw smell of garlic goes away.
- Add the onion and stir fry till translucent.
- Drain the masoor dal and reserve the water. Add to the translucent onion.
- In go the ridge gourd, tomato the garam masala, green chillies and sugar.
- Stir well and cook covered till dal is done. You will know that when just the centre of the dal, when pressed, is like a paste.
- Now add the salt.
- Stand covered for about 5 minutes. Then garnish and serve with steamed rice, rice, rasam or chapatti. Today we had them with Bakari or jowar roti.
Ridge Gourd and Red Lentil Vegetable Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Kadhai/wok
- 1 Spoons and Ladles
- 1 Peeler
- 1 Knife and board
Ingredients
For the vegetable:
- 1-½ cup ridge gourd peeled and diced
- ½ split red lentil soaked in water
- 1 onion diced
- 1 Tomato diced
- 2 garlic cloves chopped fine
- 2-3 green chillies slit
- ½ teaspoon garam masala I used kanda lasun masala
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar optional
For the Tempering:
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon jeera/cumin seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon fenugreek seeds optional
- ¼ teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon Hing/Asafoetida
To Garnish:
- 1 tablespoon dhania/ coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- First, rinse and soak the dal in about ½ cup of water for 10-15 minutes.
- Peel the ridge gourd and dice them. It’s a good idea to taste the slice as there is a chance that the ridge gourd is bitter.
- Peel and dice the onion and tomato. Finely dice the garlic.
- In a thick wok heat the oil. Splutter the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add the methi seeds. Take care that the methi does not blacken as then the tempering will turn bitter.
- Add the asafoetida and turmeric.
- Put the garlic in the oil. And fry till the raw smell of garlic goes away.
- Add the onion and stir fry till translucent.
- Drain the masoor dal and reserve the water. Add to the translucent onion.
- In go the ridge gourd, tomato the garam masala, green chillies and sugar.
- Add the reserved water if needed. Else use the water to make Dal etc.
- Stir well and cook covered till dal is done. You will know that when just the centre of the dal, when pressed, is like a paste.
- Now add the salt.
- Stand covered for about 5 minutes. Then garnish and serve with steamed rice, rice, rasam or chapatti. Today we had them with Bakari or jowar roti.
Shobha Keshwani says
Nice recipe. We usually make ridge gourd with chana dal in Sindhi cuisine. I will try your recipe next time. Looks so delicious.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thank you, Shobha.
Mayuri Patel says
I often prepare turai with moong dal but have not tried with masoor dal. Like your recipe as now I can try the recipe out using both onion and masoor dal. Love turai.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀
Rinku Bhattacharya says
Love this idea. It is simple and wholesome, perfect for the warm weather.
Sujata Roy says
Ridge gourd with masoor dal looks superbly delicious. I would love to have it with steamed rice. Never tasted before. Now can't wait to try.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 I think you will love it.
Priya Vj says
Turai is my fav gourd and I make a dal using moong dhall but this new recipe is very interesting to try and unique as well.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Kalyani says
ridge gourd is one veggie which everyone loves at home, I particularly love the dal you have made with it. else it is made into sabji (stir fry) with tomato / onion. monsoons of course makes it mandatory to have one session of ridgegour / turai bhajias
ArchanaPotdar says
😀
Jayashree T.Rao says
We used to make ridge gourd with moong dal quite often before. Now that you reminded me, I will try your version with masoor dal.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀
Mina Joshi says
Lovely combination of ridge gourd and masoor dall curry. I love ridge gourd curry but never added masoor dall to it. So a new recipe for me to try,
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 thanks.
Seema Sriram says
Made this masoor dal, ridge gourd today and we loved it with rotis for cold night dinner today. I am sure this will be on multiple time each time we get ridge gourd.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 thanks, Seema.