A dry lentil curry!
There are many different kinds of lentils used in Indian cooking. Most are made in a liquidy consistency as a curry. However, this is a simple dry lentil curry perfect with roti or chapati. You can make this with Moong Dal or with Urad dal, either works well.
This is a nice change to the usual dal as you see the whole lentil grains in the final dish. Chopped fresh cilantro gives it a great herb flavor while a squeeze of lemon at the end gives it a burst of freshness. It is cooked in any pot, does not require pressure cooker. In fact, it is better not to use pressure cooker as it is easy to overcook the lentils and make them mashy. To get the whole lentil look, it is easier to control the readiness in a pot.
This is a great beginner recipe for dal and sure to impress.
Makes 3-4 servings
Time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of moong or urad dal. (moong is small yellow grains, Urad is small white grains when raw)
- 1 cup small onion diced
- 1 cup fresh crushed/blended tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tbs of crushed dried Kasuri Methi or 1/8 cups of fresh/frozen methi
- 1/2 tsp of ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds (rai)
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1/4 tsp whole fenugreek seeds (methi)
- 6 curry leaves
- 1 or 2 dry whole red chili’s or 1 fresh green chili’s
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- 1 tsp cumin coriander powder
- 1 tsp Dhanshak masala powder or Sambhar powder (optional, tastes great in any dal dish)
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- 3 tbsp oil for cooking
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1 tbs of lemon or lime juice
Method:
- Rinse and drain dal in water a few times, the cloudy water is the starch which we don’t need. Soak for 10 mins
- In a nonstick pot, on medium heat, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, methi seeds, curry leaves and heat till they splutter, approx 2 mins.
- Add diced onion, stir fry till lightly golden brown, approx 4 mins.
- Add ginger garlic paste, stir fry for 30 secs
- Add tomatoes and all the powder spices along with salt and methi. Stir together.
- Add dal and water, cover and cook on medium for 12 -14 mins. Stir gently periodically in between, if it is sticking to the bottom of the pan, add 1/4 cup of water at a time only of needed.
- Check dal after 10 mins to see if cooked. It should be fully cooked but still hold its shape. Overcooking will make it mushy. The water should have cooked away and become a drier consistency.
- Turn off the heat, stir in cilantro and lemon juice and Serve hot with roti.
- Enjoy!
Tips:
- Add a tablespoon of tamarind water or tamarind chutney to the curry for a hint of tartness. Tamarind is frequently used in South Indian cooking and really enhances the flavor of dal as well.
- The only trick here is to have just enough liquid to cook the dal but not leave a gravy. You can always add more water, but hard to manage if you have too much. It not the end of the world if it is liquidy or becomes mashy, its important that the dal is fully cooked!
- Add cilantro at the end, do not cook. Cooking cilantro makes the green color duller and browner. To maintain green color, add it once the heat is turned off.
- Lemon juice should be added at the very end after the dal is fully cooked. If added earlier, sometimes it can stop the cooking process and leave the dal hard in the middle.
- Do not use pressure cooker or IP for this.