United Colours of Chana Dal-Lauki

Did you know that chaney-ki-dal (split bengal gram) and lauki (bottle gourd) is probably one combination that unites all of India??...Well, maybe not. But it is certainly found in  a lot of cuisines of India, only the recipes differ a bit with the region.
 

The Gujaratis make it differently than the Bengalis. One version of the Tamil recipe 'Sorakkai Kootu' (or lentil based bottle-gourd stew) is cooked with chana dal. In this, fresh coconut is ground into a paste with cumin seeds and green chillies. This paste is cooked down with a tempering of mustard seeds and asafoetida, before the cooked chana dal and lauki are added to it. The recipe I grew up eating was probably closest to the Rajasthani lauki-chana dal, more minced garlic and no tomatoes. 

Some people add tomatoes, others use amchur (dry mango powder). For tempering, cumin seeds are used as commonly as mustard seeds. Some use a combination of both. One recipe I read used ajwain (Carom seeds) along with cumin and mustard seeds. Some recipes use garam masala powder, I prefer adding whole garam masala to the tempering itself. I have heard of people experimenting with pav bhaji masala or sambhar powder or curry powder in their chaney-ki-dal lauki. Some add kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves); others add coconut milk.

I normally make it in the Rajasthani fashion, except that I add a bit of tamarind at the very end. This one time my mom added lemon juice and a bit of jaggery at the very end - the result was sweet-and-sour heaven!!

Actually, my mother has experimented a lot with lauki-chana dal. Once for a party, due to certain impediments (ahem!), she could not go ahead with the menu exactly as she had planned. Her initial plan was to have fish as the main course, but that was, lets just say, unavailable at the last moment. So she resorted to whatever was available. She did serve fish that night, only it was lauki, cooked whole and garnished beautifully to resemble a fish. It was stuffed with spicy-and-dry chana dal. Needless to say, it was a hit.

One thing is common with lauki-chana dal combination nearly everywhere. Everyone adds onion-garlic-ginger to it. I guess this is primarily because chana dal, takes masala so readily and beautifully.  In fact, without it, the dal seems almost bland. Adding the bottle gourd enhances the flavour somehow. Chaney-ki-dal and lauki is more like a sabzi than a dal. I consider it as a comfort food (and yes, I know people who scoff at the mere mention of the word 'lauki'). Warm, wholesome and absolutely delicious.