Zucchini Dal | Instant Pot Zucchini Stew With Frozen Moong Dal

square image of zucchini dal in a ceramic plate

5 from 3 votes

Zucchini Dal | Instant Pot Zucchini Stew With Frozen Moong Dal

A simple Indian dal recipe with zucchini and frozen cooked moong dal made in Instant Pot. Call it kootu or stew or dal, it's a perfect weeknight meal.

Prep Time10

Cook Time4

Pressure Cooking + Pressure Releasing Time20

Total Time34

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: zucchini dal

Servings:

Calories: 101kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp panch phoron spice mix refer notes for alternatives
1 dried red chili broken into two
3 green chilies slit into half
3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
1 cup onion chopped
5 grams ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (reserve a few to garnish)
2 tsps salt or to taste
650 grams zucchini when cut I got about 6 cups
1 cup moong dal cooked and frozen (I did not thaw it to room temperature)
½ cup water
2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and add the oil.
When the oil is hot, add the panch phoron spice mix. Let it sizzle.
Add the dried red chili, slit green chilies and the garlic. Saute for a minute.
Now, add the chopped onions. Mix it and then add the ginger, followed by salt. Gently mix and cook for 2 minutes.
Next, add the chopped zucchini and gently mix. Turn off the Instant Pot.
Now place the frozen cooked moong dal on top of the zucchini.
Close the lid and ensure the vent is in the sealing position. Pressure cook this dal on manual mode at high pressure for 4 minutes, and when the cooking is complete, release the pressure naturally.
After the pressure is all gone, carefully open the Instant Pot lid and mix the dal.
Add the garam masala and lemon juice and gently mix again. And that's it. The zucchini dal is ready. Serve it with rice or as a side dish or as is like a stew.

Video

Notes

You can make similar dal with other veggies like bottle gourd, chayote squash, etc. The timing might change, so adjust accordingly.
Instead of panch phoron spice mix, you can do the tempering with mustard seeds and cumin seeds. You can use ½ tsp of mustard seeds and 1 tsp of cumin seeds. If you have nigella seeds and fennel seeds, you can add ¼ tsp of each or skip it.
I did not add any asafoetida. You can use ¼ tsp, but if you want to keep the dal gluten-free, skip it.
Adjust the spices and salt according to your preference.
As I mentioned in the post, this dal is quite mushy. If you like the bite of the kootu, then reduce the cooking time or release the pressure quickly.

Nutrition