
This is an everyday lentil recipe. A very simple and quick recipe for chow-chow with lentils. I make this with split moong dal (paasi paruppu ). Lentils are cooked and simmered in a coconut paste and a tempering added in the end. Here is how I do it.
Wash and peel the chow-chow/chayote. Cut into half and remove the seed in the middle. Dice them and keep aside.
Wash half a cup of split moong dal / paasi paruppu and cook it along with the chow-chow in a pressure cooker for 5 minutes or 4 whistles. For every half cup of dal, I add 2 cups of water. I have a neat tip for cooking dal in a pressure cooker. I always had a problem with Indian pressure cookers. The water from inside the cooker will leak out of the whistle opening while cooking and make a whole mess on the gas stove. By placing the dal and water in a bowl and keeping the bowl in the pressure cooker filled with water easily solved the problem. No more mess.
Cook the dal and keep aside.
Make a paste out of a teaspoon of cumin seeds, couple of tablespoons of fresh shredded coconut and couple of dried red chilli. I take out the seeds from the chillies. Add up to half a cup of water while grinding. Set aside
Now combine the coconut paste with the cooked lentil mixture in a pan and bring it to a boil on low flame. Add the salt. Remove off heat when it barely comes to a simmer. You do not want to boil it too much.
The tempering: Add a teaspoon of oil to a small pan on low flame. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add urad dal, curry leaves and hing. Fry till the curry leaves are crisp and the dal is brown. Pour it over the dal.
Serve hot with rice.


- 1 medium chow-chow / chayote
- 1/2 cup split moong dal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 heaped tablespoons fresh shredded coconut
- 2 dried red chillies without seeds
- 1 teaspoon peanut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon urad dal
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon hing
- Wash and peel the chow-chow/chayote. Cut into half and remove the seed in the middle. Dice them and keep aside. Wash half a cup of split moong dal / paasi paruppu and cook it along with the chow-chow in a pressure cooker for 5 minutes or 4 whistles.
- Make a paste out of a teaspoon of cumin seeds, couple of tablespoons of fresh shredded coconut and couple of dried red chilli. I take out the seeds from the chillies. Add up to half a cup of water while grinding.
- Now combine the coconut paste with the cooked lentil mixture in a pan and bring it to a boil on low flame. Add the salt. Remove off heat when it barely comes to a simmer. You do not want to boil it too much.
- The tempering: Add a teaspoon of oil to a small pan on low flame. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add urad dal, curry leaves and hing. Fry till the curry leaves are crisp and the dal is brown. Pour it over the dal.
- Serve hot with rice.