• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
  • Subscribe

MySpicyKitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Dals

    Published: Jun 11, 2019 · Modified: Mar 19, 2021 by Usha Rao

    Zucchini Moong Dal - Zucchini Pappu

    Jump to Recipe

    Zucchini moong dal is a delicious side dish served with rice and Indian flatbreads.

    A bowl of zucchini moong dal in the foreground and a plate of rice & dal in the background.
    Jump to:
    • Indian Dals
    • Which dal to use?
    • How to prepare?
    • More Zucchini Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe

    Zucchini is not a common Indian vegetable but it tastes really good with dal. Pre-cooked dal and zucchini are cooked together and then tempered with chilies. It is a real quick and easy summer dish.

    Indian Dals

    Dal is an Indian version of lentil stew or a soup. It is an integral part of Indian cuisine, one of the main sources of proteins for most vegetarian in India and a staple food. There are many varieties of dals and some basic dals are as simple as cooking the lentils/pulses and pouring a tempering over it. It is also very common to cook dal with vegetables.

    At home there are no takers for dal with vegetables hence I usually cook plain dal such as pappu, pappu khut, dal tadka and panchmel dal. When I have leftover greens, once in a while I make methi dal or spinach dal or just mix all the greens and make methi spinach dal.

    Which dal to use?

    Indian lentils or pulses are also called dal. Moong dal or green gram is ideal for zucchini pappu. Moong dal cooks really quick compared to other dals and so does zucchini. Second, moong is one of the favorite pulses at home, hence it is always a preferred choice. Good substitute is masoor dal as it cooks really quick, just like moong dal. Chana dal and toor dal are also a good substitute though these dals take a little longer to cook.

    Plate of rice, zucchini dal and zucchini stir fry.

    How to prepare?

    There are numerous ways to cook this dal with various combinations.

    • Cook together pre cooked moong dal and zucchini to a desired consistency and pour a tempering over it.
    • Cook dal and zucchini in the tempering. Saute onions in the tempering, then lightly fry cooked dal, add zucchini and simmer for few minutes.

    Heat - Chilies

    I normally use green chili in dals except when preparing tomato dal or sambar. However, today’s recipe is an exception where I used both red chilies and chili powder. Nonetheless, green chilies are a good option. When using green chilies, pressure cook a couple of chopped chilies along with moong dal. Add another in the tempering for extra heat. If you like to weed out the green chilies, add all the chilies in the tempering itself.

    Tang - Tomatoes & Lime

    Using tomatoes or lime juice is optional and adding either or both gives a nice tangy flavor.

    • Pressure cook tomatoes along with dal or add tomatoes along with onions.
    • When using lime, add lime juice just before turning off the flame.

    There are just too many ways to cook this dal and no matter how it is prepared, the end result is just a scrumptious dal! Stir fry in the pictures is zucchini gram flour stir fry.

    A plate of rice with zucchini pappu and zucchini stir fry.  Also in the frame are bowls of zucchini dal and zucchini stir fry.

    More Zucchini Recipes

    • Zucchini Rice, Manjula's Kitchen Zucchini Rice
      Zucchini Rice
    • Bowl of tomato zucchini pachadi.
      Zucchini Tomato Chutney
    • Fritters, American Fritters, American Cuisine, Blogging Marathon, Zucchini
      Zucchini Fritters
    • Chewy zucchini oats chocolate cookies
      Zucchini Oats Chocolate Cookies

    📖 Recipe

    A bowl of zucchini moong dal in the forebround and a palte of rice & dal in the background

    Zucchini Moong Dal

    Zucchini moong dal is a quick and delicious side dish for rice and roti.
    4.80 from 5 votes
    Print Rate
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: Indian, South Indian
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 244kcal
    Author: Usha Rao

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup Moong Dal
    • 1 Tomato chopped about ½ cup
    • Few drops of Oil
    • ½ small Onion diced
    • 1 medium Zucchini diced 1 cup

    Tempering

    • 4 teaspoon Oil
    • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
    • ¼ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
    • 6 Curry Leaves
    • 2 Red Chilies
    • 1 teaspoon crushed Garlic
    • ½ teaspoon Salt ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder
    • Turmeric
    • Chopped Cilantro for garnish

    Instructions

    • Wash dal and pressure cook it along with tomatoes, few drops of oil and ¾ cups of water for 4 whistles or until dal is soft.
    • Once pressure releases naturally, add water onions, zucchini and boil until zucchini is cooked.

    Tempering

    • In a separate pan, heat oil, add mustard, cumin, curry leaves and red chilies. Let the seeds splutter and chilies change color.
    • Add crushed garlic and fry until light golden brown.
    • Add chili powder, turmeric and give a quick stir.
    • Pour the tempering over dal, keeping aside a spoonful for garnish. Cover and let the dal simmer for few minutes. Give a good stir, simmer for few minutes if the dal is too thin.
    • Turn off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with cilantro and remaining tempering.

    Notes

    • Green Chilies - If you like green chilies in dal as we do, use 2-3 small green chilies instead of red chilies and chili powder. Add slit chilies to tempering or pressure cook moong dal with green chilies.
    • Lime Juice - Substitute tomato with 1 tablespoon of lime juice.  If using lime juice, add it just before pouring tadka over dal.  You can use both tomatoes and lime juice, in which case use less lime juice and adjust it to your liking.  
    • Dal Substitute - Masoor dal is a good substitute for moong dal. Toor dal and chana dal also work but cooking time for these two dals is longer. Pressure cook for 6 -7 whistles.
    • Zucchini Substitute - Cucumber and tender ridge gourd are a good substitutes. Bottle gourd is also a good substitute and if using bottle gourd, pressure cook the gourd along with moong dal.
    • Nutritional Information - is approximate.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 315mg | Potassium: 826mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1032IU | Vitamin C: 163mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 4mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

    This also goes to PJ's My Legume Love Affair # 129, an event started by Susan of Well Seasoned Cooked and currently organized by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen.

    More Dals

    • Bowl of mung beans curry in a bowl placed on a plate. In the background is a bowl of rice and mung curry.
      Moong Bean Dal, Gujarati Mag
    • A bowl of dal.
      Kale Dal, Video Recipe
    • Bowl of cranberry dal.
      Cranberry Dal ~ Cranberry Pappu
    • A bowl of dhal curry - orange lentils curry
      Sri Lankan Dhal Curry Recipe

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      4.80 from 5 votes (1 rating without comment)

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Pavani says

      October 20, 2020 at 10:29 pm

      5 stars
      Such a delicious and nutritious dal. Lovely photos Usha. I made this simple zucchini pappu for my family and they absolutely loved it. We enjoyed it with some roti 🙂

      Reply
      • Usha Rao says

        October 21, 2020 at 9:51 am

        Glad your family liked it Pavani.

        Reply
    2. Chef Mireille says

      October 20, 2020 at 9:14 pm

      5 stars
      This was so bright and colorful. I ate it with my eyes first but when I tasted it, OMG thanks for such a delicious dal recipe to add to the repertoire.

      Reply
      • Usha Rao says

        October 21, 2020 at 9:52 am

        Thanks Mir!

        Reply
    3. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      October 20, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      5 stars
      What a great idea to use zucchini in the dal. A great way to use my fall zucchini that is coming out. The dal is so flavorful and we all loved it.

      Reply
      • Usha Rao says

        October 21, 2020 at 9:54 am

        Oh, good to know your Fall vegetables are ready to harvest! Thanks for trying the recipe.

        Reply
    4. Narmadha says

      July 25, 2019 at 9:10 am

      5 stars
      Addition of zucchini is new to me. Dal tempered with ghee is always flavorful and tasty

      Reply
    5. Srivalli Jetti says

      July 06, 2019 at 11:26 pm

      Beautiful dish and must have tasted so good Usha, I would surely want to make this next time I get this veggie.

      Reply
    6. Sharmila Kingsly says

      June 27, 2019 at 4:39 am

      Dals are always a comfort food..indeed it's flavorful and tempting with zucchini and ghee..

      Reply
    7. Swati says

      June 22, 2019 at 1:55 pm

      I make this dal with lauki or spinach. will add zucchini now.. looks so flavourful and iniviting

      Reply
    8. Suma Gandlur says

      June 21, 2019 at 8:15 pm

      The dal looks so vibrant and I am sure both the zucchini based dishes tasted delicious.

      Reply
    9. Sushma Pinjala says

      June 20, 2019 at 12:32 pm

      I have tried Zucchini dal with toor dal, your version of dal with moong dal looks delicious. Will try soon.

      Reply
    10. harini says

      June 17, 2019 at 9:30 am

      Beautifully captured, Usha. Love such simple fare.

      Reply
    11. Gayathri Kumar says

      June 14, 2019 at 5:40 am

      I love to add any veggie in this type of dal. This is so versatile and goes really well with rice. The zucchini version looks fantastic.

      Reply
    12. Vaishali Sabnani says

      June 12, 2019 at 12:07 am

      I normally make this daal with lauki , and hubby loves it . It surely is a wholesome meal , so well presented and cooked .

      Reply
    13. Rajani says

      June 11, 2019 at 9:39 pm

      My choice of vegetables for this kootu is chow chow or pumpkin. I will add zucchini to the list as well :-). Perfect comfort food there!

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

    More about me →


    Holiday Recipes

    • Fresh cranberry Christmas cake is a tangy & sweet cake
      Fresh Cranberry Christmas Cake
    • Loaf of non alcoholic low calorie classic fruit cake
      Low Calorie, Non Alcoholic Fruit Cake
    • plate of masi samoa.
      Masi Samoa, Coconut Shortbread Cookies
    • Norwegian Rice Porridge, Norwegian Food, Norwegian Cuisine, Rice Porridge, Rice Pudding, Norwegian Rice Pudding, Food of the World,
      Norwegian Rice Porridge for Food of the World
    • Collard Greens, Pepperoni, Food & Wine, Cooking from Cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Side Dish, Thanksgiving Recipes,
      Sauteed Collard Greens with Pepperoni
    • Thanksgiving Side Dishes, Side Dish, Swiss Chard, Piccata, Piccata Swiss Chard, Cooking form cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Food & Wine,
      Piccata Swiss Chard

    Popular

    • Sq image of a platter of veg canapes.
      Bread Canapes Recipe
    • Shrimp noodle soup in a bowl
      Easy Shrimp Noodle Soup Chinese Style
    • Top down view of chicken clear soup.
      Chicken Clear Soup Recipe, Indian Style
    • Omani Food, Omani Cuisine, Roasted Meat, Blogging Marathon, Around the world in 30 days with ABC cooking,
      Omani Shuwa ~ Slow Cooked Lamb

    Finger Food

    • Broiled shrimp.
      Party Shrimp Recipe
    • Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,
      Arizona Cheese Crisps
    • Plate of bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers
      3 Ingredient Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
    • A platter of Fiesta pinwheels and a bowl of salsa
      Fiesta Pinwheels, Yummy Party Food

    Curry Recipes

    • A bowl of lima beans curry.
      Lima Beans Curry, Video Recipe
    • Bowl of ulligadda ukkera.
      Onion Egg Curry ~ Ulligadda Ukkera
    • A bowl of chikkudukaya kura or Indian broad beans in a platter along with a bowl of rice.
      Chikkudukaya Kura - Indian Broad Beans Fry
    • Gutti vankaya masala is a flavorful eggplant curry stuffed with peanut sesame spice mix.
      Gutti Vankaya Masala - Stuffed Baby Eggplant Curry

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe

    Contact

    • Know Me

    Copyright © 2025 MySpicyKitchen

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.