For a vegetarian day tired of plain dal and rice or paneer, this pointed gourd dish is a change. Moog-potol, made with moong dal and potol, goes with rice or roti, and a finish of ghee gives it its aroma.

You will need pointed gourd and potato, half a cup of moong dal, two medium tomatoes chopped, an inch and a half of grated ginger, 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder, 1.5 tablespoons ground cumin and half a tablespoon garam masala. For tempering: dried red chilli, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon and whole cumin; plus oil, salt, turmeric, sugar and ghee.

Peel and dice the pointed gourd and potato, wash and drain. Rinse the moong dal several times and soak for 15 minutes. Fry the vegetables in 2 spoons of oil with salt and two pinches of turmeric until lightly browned, then lift out.

In the same pan heat 2 more spoons of oil, temper with dried chilli, bay leaf, cardamom and cinnamon, then add whole cumin. Add the ginger, then the tomato, with a little salt to soften it. Stir in the ground spices one by one and fry on low heat.

Add the drained dal and fry with the spices for 4 to 5 minutes until fragrant. Pour in enough hot water, add salt and sugar, cover and simmer for 6 minutes on low heat, keeping the dal whole rather than mushy.

Stir in the fried vegetables and the chillies, cover and cook a little longer. When everything is tender, add garam masala and ghee, rest covered for a few minutes and serve with rice or roti.

Photo: Subhashish Panigrahi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: Anandabazar