| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup split mung dal
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 5 cups water
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 5 dried red chilies
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 cup coconut milk
- Cooked basmati rice, for serving
- Celery leaves, for serving
Instructions
- Put the split mung dal, turmeric, water and salt into a pot large enough to hold them and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer about 40 minutes. The dal should become somewhat soft and porridge-like. Set aside.
- Place the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, peppercorns and chilies in a dry saute pan and toast them until they become quite fragrant. After allowing the spices to cool, grind them in a spice or coffee grinder until fine.
- Place the oil in a saute pan and add the garlic and shallots. Cook over high heat until softened and just beginning to brown. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the ground spices and cook for 1 minute. Add the mixture to the cooked dal and simmer for about 10 minutes over low heat. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed.
- Serve with rice and celery leaves.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 186 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 16 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 705 mg |
Reviews
Excellent recipe – well seasoned. I just reduced the turmeric to 1 tsp and subbed the red chiles with less of chili flakes (otherwise would be too spicy) . Very tasty recipe, definitely will make it again!
The chef was saying he used mung dal, but it looked like chana dal. Two teaspoons turmeric is a bit too much for my Indian palate.
This is a staple in my house! Especially when serving Chicken Tikka Masala and basmati rice – it’s a great combo! I have always used green lentils instead of split mung and in addition to the shallot, I add a whole yellow or white onion which bulks it up a bit and adds great flavor. Enjoy!
This is a great recipe. I saw the show, I love Indian flavors, and daal has always been difficult for me to perfect. This is delicious, comforting, healthy food.
It tastes just like a Pakistani restaurant a frequent. I substituted garam masala for most of the spices (because it contains most of them and just used crushed red pepper. The flavors are fantastic.
This is delicious! It’s very spicy, which I like, and the directions work perfectly. The salt worked for me, but it depends on what you like.
Our entire family loved this, kids and all. Make sure to toast the spices as it is imperative for this recipe to taste right. We did back off the salt a bit, and because of the kiddies, only used 2 peppers. It still has a good kick, and with some samosas and poppadoms with lime pickles – this was a great way to chase off the first chill of fall!
The spice combination was awesome and the flavor of the soup was great. I only gave the recipe 3 stars however because the amount of salt was WAY off. Luckily, I read the ratings and used half the amount of salt. One tablespoon would have been excessive.
I was very excited about trying this recipe. I love Indian food, and I love dal. I went to the local indo-pak store and bought all the ingredients. I used half the amount of salt recommended for the lentils, and thought the level of salt was perfect. I followed the spice mix measurements exactly, and that’s where this recipe went horribly wrong. I don’t know if the amounts were incorrectly transcribed as I don’t remember the episode well enough. The end result just tasted like biting down on a whole black peppercorn and chasing it with a mouthful of cumin. All of the other flavors were drowned out.
This Dal was very delicious. I would like to add here that the name of the dal here in recipe is mung dal but what was shown on television was “Split Tuar Dal”, and not “Mung Dal”.