Zucchini Dal, Zucchini With Lentils

          After all the sundal and sweet recipes last week, I thought I'll post a simple dal recipe today. The same dal/ lentils, when cooked with different spices and a different vegetable gets an entirely new flavor and taste. For today's dal I have used tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas, zucchini and seasoned it with panch phoron. This is a very easy recipe, extremely flavorful  and it goes very well with both rice and rotis..

Need To Have

• Tuvar Dal/ Split Pigeon Peas - 1/3 cup
• Diced Zucchini - 11/2 cups, used 1 medium zucchini
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1/2 teaspoon
• Panch Phoron - 11/4 teaspoon
• Crushed Red Chilly Flakes - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste

Panch Phoron : Take equal amounts of fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, onion seeds/ nigella seeds and cumin seeds.

Method

          Pressure cook the tuvar dal with water and 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, once the pressure is released, mash the dal and keep. Heat some oil, add the panch phoron, when it starts spluttering, add the zucchini pieces and saute till you get light brown spots on it. Then add the crushed red chilly flakes, coriander powder and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, mix it well, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

          Then add the chopped tomato, cooked dal, grated ginger salt and some water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with the curry leaves, remove and serve it warm.

Note
Don't overcook the zucchini, it should retain it's shape and have a slight crunch to it.
You can use ghee/ clarified butter instead of oil for an extra flavor.
Use homemade coriander powder for nice flavor, also you can squeeze some lemon juice while mixing rice with the dal.