Warm, richly spiced, and built for a satisfying meal, Butternut Squash Dal is a Indian entree, vegetarian made with toor dal, chana dal, and water in about 45 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Entree, Vegetarian
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

To pressure cook

  • ½ cup toor dal (soaked for 30 minutes, also known as split pigeon peas lentil)
  • ¼ cup chana dal (soaked for 30 minutes, also known as split garbanzo beans)
  • 2 & ½ cups water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 & ¼ teaspoons finely chopped ginger
  • 2 & ½ cups butternut squash cubes (from one small squash of around 800 grams)

Tempering/tadka

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 green chili (chopped)
  • 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
  • 5-6 curry leaves
  • 1 medium red onion (chopped)
  • 2 medium tomatoes (chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
  • 1-2 cups water
  • salt (to taste)

Method

  1. Soak the chana and toor dal for 20-30 minutes. Drain water and set aside.
  2. To a pressure cook add the soaked dal with water, turmeric powder, salt, chopped ginger and butternut squash.
  3. Pressure cook till dal is nicely cooked and squash is completely softened. I cooked on high heat for 4 whistles and then set the heat to low and cook for additional 5-6 minutes. Let the pressure come off on it's own and then set the dal aside.
  4. In a pan or work, heat oil on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let them crackle.
  5. Once the seds pop, add chopped onion, green chili and curry leaves. Saute for 2 minutes or till onion becomes slightly translucent.
  6. Add chopped garlic and saute for a minute or two.
  7. Now add chopped tomatoes and mix. Also add salt.
  8. Cook the tomatoes for 5 minutes or till they soften up.
  9. Now transfer the cooked dal to pan, add water and mix everything. Adjust salt at this point. Lower the heat and let the dal simmer for 5 minutes.
  10. Add cilantro and lemon juice (if using) and serve immediately.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.