Pumpkin Dal (Instant Pot & Stove Top)

Pumpkin Dal – simple and comforting dal, perfect for fall when pumpkins are in season.

A delicious one pot dish, perfect for a cozy weeknight meal.

In the months of September and October I look forward to making the dal with pumpkin. Pumpkin cooked with lentils and spices is a prefect cozy meal to enjoy when the weather starts to get cooler.

Dal is the quintessential go to Indian dish and is cooked in every house hold in the Indian sub continent.

Though toor dal is the most common lentil used to make the dal, you can make it with any yellow or red lentils.

This Indian Pumpkin Dal

• bursting with fall flavors

• is a one pot dish

• can be made in the instant pot or stove top

• vegan and can be made gluten free

• best enjoyed with rice and pickle

Ingredients:

Ingredient notes:

pumpkin – I used yellow pumpkin, which I peeled and cut to large pieces

toor dal – can be found in Indian store, amazon and in Asian isle in many grocery stores.

asafoetida – is available in Indian store, if you can’t find it….you can skip it.

for heat – I used both green chili and red chili powder. If you don’t have green chili, just add little more red chili .

Step by Step Photo Instructions

Prepping the ingredients –

1- Wash the toor dal and soak in a cup of water while you prep rest of the ingredients.

2- Wash the pumpkin, cut to halve, remove the seeds, peel the skin and cut to large size cubes. We will need heaping 2 cups of cubed pumpkin in this recipe.

Instant Pot method –

1- Turn on the instant pot on saute mode. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle a bit. Add the chopped onion and saute for 2 minutes or until soft.

Add the chopped green chili, ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute, till the raw smell goes away.

2 – Now add tomato and cook for a minute.

3 – Add the salt, coriander powder and red chili powder and coat with the onion tomato mixture. Cancel the saute mode.

4 & 5 – Add pumpkin, drained dal and water and give a mix making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pan.

6 – Close the lid and turn the vent to sealing position. Press pressure cooker (manual mode) and adjust the cook time to seven minutes.

Once done, let the pressure release naturally.

Mix it, if you feel the dal is thick add some water and cook on saute mode for a minute.

Add some lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.

This step is optional but I do a final tempering (tadka). In a small pan add 2 tea spoons of oil, when the oil gets hot add mustards seeds and let them pop. Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add few curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida and turn off the heat.

Add this tempering to the dal and enjoy. with rice.

Stove Top method –

1- Cook the toor dal in 3 cups of water till soft.

2-Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds and let them pop. Now add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle.

3- Add the onion and curry leaves and cook till onion turns soft. Now add in the asafoetida, green chili and ginger-garlic and cook for a minute till the raw smells goes away.

4 – Add the tomato and turmeric powder and cook till mushy. Add the red chili powder, coriander powder and salt and give a mix.

5- Add the cubed pumpkin and little water and cook till pumpkin is soft. Mix in between to avoid burning and splash with some water if needed.

6 -When the pumpkin is cooked, add the dal and adjust the water if needed. Simmer for 10 minutes and finish it some lemon juice and coriander leaves.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve the pumpkin dal with cumin rice or basmati rice. You can also enjoy with roti (Indian flat bread). Lemon pickle and papad goes well with the dal and rice.

Variations:

This dal is vegetarian, vegan, nut free and egg free.

If you are not vegan– while serving, add a dollop of ghee to your rice and dal.

Pro Tips:

Soak the lentils while you prep rest of the ingredients.

Cut the pumpkin to large pieces, so they don’t become too mushy when cooked with the dal.

Fry the onion till soft before proceeding to the next step.

The dal thickens when it cools, if that happens add some hot water to it.

Add lots of finely chopped cilantro and lemon juice at the end of cooking.

More Pumpkin recipes –

Indian Pumpkin Curry

Pumpkin Stir Fry

Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes

If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to give a star rating below.

For more recipes and to see what’s cooking in my kitchen, follow me on  Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.