Brown Lentils With Courgette

  A reader friend of 'Abhiruchi', Suniti Sharma had requested for recipes using courgette. Looking at her post, another reader friend of 'Abhiruchi', Hema Vaidya had sent me this recipe. I am delighted to see the spread of 'Abhiruchi' family in this way!!
    So today, I am giving the recipe for 'Brown Lentils With Courgette'. Courgette is one of those vegetables which doesn't have any distinct taste of it's own. But when mixed with other veggies in stir fries or soups, it tastes amazing.
     Courgette gets cooked very quickly. So we need to be careful while cooking with courgette because it easily loses it's texture if overcooked.
Ingredients and Recipe-
Brown Lentils 1 cup
Courgette 1
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Garlic Cloves 3-4
Ginger 1" piece
Green chilly 1
Oil 2 tbsp
Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp
For tempering- Mustard seeds,Cumin seeds, Turmeric, Red chilly powder and Salt as per taste

1) First of all, wash the brown lentils and soak in the water for half an hour.
2)Finely chop Onion,tomato, garlic and ginger.
3) Cut Courgette into medium sized pieces.
4)Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds to it.
5) When the seeds start crackling, add ginger and garlic and saute till it turns golden brow.
6)Now add the finely chopped onion and saute till it becomes translucent.
7) Add chopped tomatoes and courgette and mix well.
8) Now add garam masala powder and red chilly powder.
9) Now add the soaked brown lentils and let it cook for 7-8 minutes.
10) Cook the lentils till al  dente and add a slit green chilly to it, cover and cook on sim for further 6-7 minutes.
11) When the lentils are completely cooked, add salt and garnish with chopped coriander.
     The consistency of this dish should be quite thick than normal Daal. It goes very well with Rice, Roti or Paratha.

   Suniti, I hope you enjoy this recipe and Hematai, thanks a lot for sharing such a nice recipe!!