Many people are confused every day about what light and healthy food to eat at sehri. Nutritious food is essential at sehri, but the food also needs to be light and hydrating.

The simple and very tasty curry that comes to mind to combine these qualities is lau dal, bottle gourd with lentils, finished with a tadka (tempering). Here is a quick recipe.

• Red lentils (masoor) or black gram (mashkalai), 1 cup
• Bottle gourd cut into small pieces, 2 cups
• Turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon
• Cumin, half a teaspoon
• Fennel, a little
• Green chillies, 6
• Coriander leaves, 3 teaspoons
• Salt to taste
• Chopped onion, 2 teaspoons
• Chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon
• Bay leaves, 2
• Oil, 3 teaspoons

First boil the lentils in two cups of water. You can add 2 or 3 green chillies while boiling. When the water reduces, mash the lentils well.

In a separate pan, lightly fry the small pieces of bottle gourd. Then boil the lentils again with salt, turmeric and two cups of water. Add the fried gourd to the dal at this stage and let it cook.

Meanwhile, heat oil and add the bay leaves, cumin and fennel for tempering, followed by the chopped onion, slit green chillies and chopped garlic. When the onion and garlic turn brown, pour in the dal with the gourd.

Mix the dal thoroughly with the tempering and check that the gourd is fully cooked. Scatter coriander leaves over and cover on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes so the gourd and dal blend together. The tasty lau dal is ready.

Because bottle gourd is easily digested, this is an ideal dish for sehri.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.