Turai chana dal |Toori chana dal| ridge gourd daal

Turai Dal chawar or turai aur chana dal is a delicious recipe. Here we cook chana dal along with torai or gilki. It is light on the stomach and easy to digest.This Sindhi recipe is very similar to Gujarati recipe made with moong dal. Also known as turai moong dal ki sabji or Turiya mag ni dal.

Chana dal or yellow split lentils gives a great base to ridge gourd recipe. Thus, it is an ideal combination of lentils and veggies.You can eat with both a flat bread or with rice.Serve it with some mango pickle, air fried poppadums and fresh salad.`

Top tip: Add a dash of lemon juice, when you serve.It will help increase the taste. Also lets you absorb your iron better in the meal, due to the addition of vitamin C.

Jump to:

• Ingredients 
• Turai Dal chawar recipe
• Related dal recipes
• Instructions

Ingredients 

For curry:

• yellow split pea lentils / chana dal
• ridge gourd / turai (yields 600 grams)
• tomatoes
• onion diced
• oil / ghee for vegetarian option
• cumin seeds
• ginger garlic paste
• Pinch asafoetida / heeng (avoid if gluten free) 
• red chilli powder
• turmeric powder
• coriander powder
• cumin powder
• Salt as per taste
• lime juice or dash of lemon

rice

• basmati rice
• water
• salt optional

salad (optional)

• cherry tomatoes
• onion sliced lengthwise
• Dash of lemon

Air fried popaddums or papad (optional)

• papad

refer to recipe card for details.

Related dal recipes

• Yellow dal recipe | Chana dal recipe
• Vegan Red Lentil Curry | Red lentil dahl with coconut milk
• dal khichdi
• vegan dal makhani
• Mixed dal tadka dhaba style | Easy dal tadka recipe

Instructions

Rice:

• Cook a cup of rice with 2 cups of water. Keep it aside.
• Slice onions and cherry tomatoes for salad.Serve fresh with curry and dash of lime

How to make turai aur Chana dal in pressure cooker?

• Soak chana dal (yellow split lentils) for 25 mins.
• Heat oil and add cumin seeds and let it splutter.
• Add ginger garlic paste(you can add crushed ginger/garlic if you don't have a handy paste) and mix well.
• Add a pinch of asafaoetida along with spices and salt.
• Mix well.(Toasting spices will give it a fresh flavor however,you may spices after cooking ridge gourd )
• Add onions and saute it till they turn pink.
• Add chopped tomatoes and cook for few minuttes till they are soft.
• Add chopped ridge gourd pieces along with some salt and let it cook,till they soften and release some water.
• Now add chana dal along with 2 cups of water and some salt
• Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
• Serve hot with rice and salad with a dash of lemon and chunda.

Tip: When you peel and cut your gourd.Always taste a small piece. If it is bitter, the whole curry will turn bitter.No amount of spices can then save that curry.

Substitutions:

You can temper the dal with ghee for vegetarians.I love pairing it with roti or brown rice.You can also use bottle gourd, zucchini for a similar curry if you do not have ridge gourd at home. Similarly, you can substitute chana dal with moong dal, red lentils (masoor dal) or toor dal (arhar). You can also make it a no onion no garlic dal recipe.

Variations

You can use curry powder, red chili powder and garam masala instead of below spices.

You can also cook it as a South Indian chutney or Telugu dondakaya pachadi. Sindhis also make a nijji turai recipe with ridge gourd. We cook ridge gourd pieces in a tbsp. ghee and cumin only add black pepper for spices. This tastes delicious with roti and is given to new mums for recovery. You need more torai for a decent bowl of nijji torai as it reduces a lot due to water content in it. You can also cook torai sabji in onion tomato gravy.It tastes great with both rice and roti.

FAQ

Conclusion: ridge gourd dal is comfort food at its best.