Spicy Indian Dahl

"I just love a steaming hot bowl of spicy, aromatic Indian Dahl. I served this with Anu's Tangy Lemon Rice with Peanuts, and chapattis. A delicious, nourishing meal. If you prefer not to use ghee or butter, substitute vegetable oil. Add the amount of chile powder as per your own taste - less or more is up to you. If you prefer, you can use Toor dahl or even split and hulled Moong dahl, instead of Masoor dahl."
 
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Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
13
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Place lentils in a colander and rinse under running cold tap water.
  • Add lentils to a medium-sized, but deep, saucepan.
  • For each cup of lentils, add 2 cups of water to the saucepan.
  • Bring to the boil, turn heat down, and simmer 10 to 20 minutes.
  • Do not allow lentils to become mushy- they should still be'al dente'.
  • Drain when cooked.
  • Melt ghee or butter over a medium flame.
  • Add onions, garlic and ginger, and saute until onions are soft and light brown in colour.
  • Add spices and salt, and cook a couple of minutes until lightly fried and bubbling.
  • Add dahl, and stir well.
  • Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.
  • Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, or until gravy thickens, stirring from time to time so that the dahl doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
  • Add more water if necessary, or if a thinner dahl is desired.
  • Garnish with fresh cilantro to serve.
  • Variation: Add two chopped tomatoes with the onions.

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Reviews

  1. This was delicious, healthy, nutritious, easily digestible, awesome and just simply "wonderful"! I made it for our dinner tonight as I wanted to surprise mom and dad with a Zaar recipe!). I did cut down "tremendously" on the quantity of fat, though, in this. Instead of using 12 tbsps(6oz.) of ghee/butter, I used Just ONE Tbsp. of regular oil in it(Ghee and butter are both too fatening and I'm back to counting cals!). Trust me, 1 tbsp. was more than sufficient!!! Moreover, I did use fresh ginger(peeled and grated). Honestly, I felt this should NOT be an optional ingredient, but one that's required. I did use 2 medium tomatoes as well(Tomatoes again are necessary if you want authentic Indian masoor dal). I used 3 cups of masoor dal and 6+1/2+3/4 cups of water(divided). The first 6 cups I added as for step number 3. The remaining water I added when I reached step number 11. What I particularly liked was the slightly crispy taste of the onions as I did not over-fry them. They were just soft and light brown as per the recipe. This dal was RIGHTLY SPICED- Not too much, nor too less. It was just perfect! I think now that I have suggested how I cut down on the oil(fat), nobody who wants to try this recipe need worry about any extra cals:) I had this with white bread while mom and dad relished it with hot chappatis. I will try it with Anu's Tangy lemon rice next time(that's another one of my favourite recipes). Together with this recipe, the dal and lemon rice will make a marriage in food heaven - this I can GUARANTEE! This is a WONDERFUL recipe and I really hope it gets many splendid reviews and is well received by all who try it. This will be a regular on our table- and that's Charishma's promise! :) A THOUSAND thanks to you for sharing this!
     
  2. This is a very easy and good recipe! Both my husband and I loved it .. I only used 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter and it was quite enough .. I added the optional tomatoes .. thanks Daydream for another winner :)
     
  3. Great recipe and I did run into a glitch. I used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder and used 1 tsp as per a suggestion by another member. This was overly hot for me and it drowned out the other wonderful flavors. I had to add yogurt to turn the heat down. I take responsibility for this glitch as I should have added the cayenne a bit at a time. Will definitely make this again using a smaller amount of cayenne.
     
  4. Easy and tasty, this is a meal that I go to when I don't feel like cooking for a long time but want lots of flavours.
     
  5. This is a keeper! In fact I'm looking forward to cooking this again tomorrow. Lentils are such a comfort food to me and this recipe didn't fail to hit the spot. Good combination of spices even without the cilantro leaf which I didn't have. Comfort food at its guiltless,healthiest best!
     
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Tweaks

  1. We loved the sophisticated spicyness of this dahl, but since we changed the method considerably, I don't think it would be fair to assign a star rating. We only used one onion, and since we were making it as part of a vegan dinner party, we substituted canola oil for the ghee. I also reduced the chili powder (we used cayenne) down to 1 teaspoon and it turned out plenty hot. We sauted the onions etc. along with the spices first. Then we added a cup of red lentils and 4 cups of water, brought it to a boil and simmered until done. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
     
  2. I liked this recipe. My family was a little wimpy about the spice level, but did enjoy what they ate. I used cayenne instead of red chili powder, one large onion that diced up to about 2 cups, and found the lentils ready in just under ten minutes. Also ran out of ground coriander at 1 1/2 tablespoons, but was very satisfied with the taste. Thank you, Daydream, for posting this.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I was raised in a family that loves to travel, meet people from other countries, and taste new foods. We are quite 'international' - my brother's wife is Indian, my sister's husband is Swiss and my son's wife is of Swedish and Croatian origin. My little dogs are German - miniature Dachshunds.</p> 8725212"
 
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