Pumpkin Dahl with lots of Ginger | Ginger Pumpkin Dal

Recipe for a Pumpkin Dahl with lots of ginger. It makes a hearty vegan and gluten free when combined with a bowl of cooked brown rice or millets.

Combining pumpkin is lentils is quite common in Tamil cooking, be it in a pumpkin kootu or a pumpkin sambar. Neither of them are quite suited with rotis, as they go best with rice. Though there are many Tamilians who don’t mind eating kootu with rotis, I surely don’t belong to this team 🙂

This recipe for pumpkin dahl is a version of dal fry or dal tadka. It has pumpkin puree and lots of finely chopped ginger and tastes equally good with rotis or rice.

I’m down with a weather triggered cough and cold. This is making me gravitate towards ginger in almost everything I cook.

Even the breakfast oatmeal!

Ginger in this recipe not only makes it perfectly warming to suit the weather (the Northern hemisphere of course). It also gives the dish enough heat to keep the pumpkin from getting overbearing with its sweetness. Increasing the quantity of pumpkin puree makes it a tad sweeter, which you can compensate by adding more chillies and chilli powder.

Equipment needed for this recipe:

• A 5 litre pressure cooker 
• A saute pan

For a colourful and fulfilling vegan and gluten free dinner –

• fill a portion of grains in a bowl (brown rice / millets / quinoa)
• top with a couple of ladles of the warm and comforting pumpkin dahl
• add a spoonful of kachumber (Indian cucumber, onion, tomato salad)

What I love about this Pumpkin Dahl –

• It makes use of seasonal orange pumpkins
• Can easy use readymade or frozen pumpkin puree
• Ginger makes it perfectly warming for the colder months
• It has just the right hit of salty, sweet, sour and spice
• Makes a quick main meal with any cooked grains

More savoury pumpkin recipes you may love –

(MOST POPULAR) Punjabi Pumpkin Subzi

Pumpkin and Pear Soup with Jalapenos

Pumpkin and Cowpeas Stew from Kerala

Pumpkin Raita

Pumpkin, Lentils and Sweet Potato Stew

Pumpkin Dahl

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 3

Cuisine: global vegetarian, Indian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

The dal / lentils

• 1/2 cup tur dal / yellow lentils
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

The masala

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1-2 tbsp ​finely chopped onions​
• 2-3 green chillies finely sliced
• 1 tomato finely chopped
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree unsweetened
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder or as per taste
• 1 tsp salt
• juice of 1 lemon

To garnish

• fresh coriander
• Sliced chillies
• ginger juliennes
• lemon wedges

Method

 

The lentils

1. To prepare the Pumpkin Dahl, start by washing the lentils well. Cover with fresh water and soak for 15-20 minutes.
2. Add turmeric to the lentils and cook in a pressure cooker or instant pot for 8-10 minutes on full pressure. Open when the pressure has subsided and keep aside.

The Masala

1. Heat the oil in a saute pan. Fry cumin seeds until they splutter.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, onions, chillies and tomato and fry on a high flame for 1-2 minutes. Reduce flame and cook for 4-5 minutes until onions soften and tomatoes are pulpy.
3. Stir in the pumpkin puree, spice powders and salt, combine well.
4. To this, add the cooked dal and bring to a simmer, thinning with some water if required.
5. Turn off the flame and mix in lemon juice.

Garnish

1. Remove into a serving bowl and garnish with more coriander, sliced chillies and ginger juliennes.

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