This Butternut squash Dal is the ultimate winter dal recipe! With the goodness of butternut squash and tomatoes, this dal is absolutely comforting, aromatic and perfect as a soup or as side with rice/ roti. Dal is the ultimate comfort food for Indians. And growing up, we used to have dal everyday and Amma used to make a different versions.
There are different versions of pappu, chappati pappu(plain dal), aakura pappu(dal with leafy greens), pappu charu(sour dal with veggies) and many many more. I have already shared few lentils based recipes on my blog, do check them out.
I have a 3yr old toddler, who is quite a picky eater, and she gives me such a hard time when it comes to food. She won’t take steamed or stir-fried veggies, hence I sneak the vegetables into dal or khichdi. These veggies or greens when cooked with lentils, they get quite easy to mash up and the kids do not know they are eating veggies. And I mix a little ghee, into the rice with dal, and it helps in digestion along with making it more delicious and comforting.
What kind of lentils to use in this recipe?
I have used Masoor dal here, which is split red lentils. Instead you can use a mix of lentils as well. Moong dal, masoor dal works great with such veggies according to me.
Along with lentils and butternut squash, you can also add in different veggies if you like. With lots of winter veggies like zucchini, acorn squash, sweet potatoes to this dal will not only make it protein-rich but also nutritious and wholesome because of all the veggies in it.
As I’m using masoor dal here, and used Instant pot in cooking it. As red lentils cooks fast, you can cook it on stovetop too. And if you’re using chana dal or Toor dal in this recipe, I’d recommend you to use Instant pot as it takes more time in cooking.
Why should you make this Butternut squash dal ?
- Vegan friendly
- One pot stew
- Comforting and easy-to-make
- Healthy and nutritious
- Kid friendly
Is this recipe VEGAN ?
Absolutely, all the ingredients used in this recipe are plant-based, gluten-free and vegan-friendly.
What all ingredient I used in this recipe?
- Masoor dal – you can substitute split red lentils with moong dal, chana dal or toor dal. And you can even use a mix of lentils here.
- Butternut squash – If you don’t have butternut squash handy, use pumpkin or acorn squash, carrots, or sweet potato.
- Tomatoes
- Garlic – we are going to use loads of garlic in this recipe, which is what makes this recipe sumptuous and aromatic. Please do not skip on this.
- Spices
- And a pretty basic tempering
Check out some more vegetarian main course dishes.
Stuffed peppers in creamy tomato gravy
Let’s get into the Butternut squash dal Recipe!
BUTTERNUT SQUASH DAL
Equipment
- Pressure cooker / Instant pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup Masoor dal wash and soak for 10 mins
- 2 cups Butternut squash peeled and diced
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2½ cups Water / Vegetable stock
For Tempering
- 3 tbsp Cooking oil
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 inch Ginger
- 4 no Whole dry red chillies
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 no Tomato roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
Instructions
Cooking lentils
- Add washed lentils, chopped butternut squash to the instant pot/pressure cooker.
- In a mortar and pestle, gently pound the garlic cloves and cumin seeds to a coarse paste. Add this paste to the lentils.
- Now add water / vegetable stock to the pressure cooker/Instant pot and cook for 3 whistles.If you are using Instant pot, Press pressure cook, select custom and set the time to 14 mins and cook the lentils and veggies on high pressure.
- Later open the lid, add in salt to taste, give it a good mix. And keep aside.
Tempering
- Heat a pan, add oil and once its hot add in cumin seeds and let it splutter.
- Now add in minced garlic, minced ginger, torn red chilies, Curry leaves and fry until the garlic turns golden brown.
- Once the garlic is roasted, add in chopped tomatoes and cook until they are slightly mashed.
- Add in turmeric powder, red chili powder, and turn off the heat.
Reheating the dal
- Add in Tempering/tadka with tomatoes to the cooked lentils and cook for 2 more mins.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning according to your taste preference.
It's Serving time!!
- Serve a bowl of sumptuous Warm BUTTERNUT SQUASH DAL with rice / roti.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please share your valuable feedback in the comments below. Also you can Tag your photo and share it with #mycurryveda on Instagram @mycurryveda or on Facebook .
