Masoor Dal or red lentil dal is an aromatic and delicious Indian curry. Simple to make and naturally gluten-free, it’s a quick and healthy vegan dinner.
Curry is one of my husband and my favourite things to make and eat. He even wooed me with a mouthwatering vegetable curry that took almost a day to make. Twenty years later I’m still waiting on another serve of that curry. I guess it’s stuck in a void with the homemade dog house I was promised for our beautiful dog who passed on 4 years ago. Good thing our boy slept inside, huh?
Thankfully, this Masoor dal does not take a day to make.
Dal (also spelled dhal or daal) translates to “lentil” but most understand it to be a thick soupy curry made with lentils. This Indian red lentil dal is ready in around 40-minutes from start to finish including the roasted eggplant. It is made deliciously flavourful with a tarka or tadka.
What is Tarka or Tadka?
Tarka (also called tadka) is simply tempering aromatic spices in hot oil to release their full flavour. For our Masoor dal today the spices are tempered in oil with fresh tomato, onions, garlic, ginger and chillies. The cooked lentils are then added to the tarka to infuse. So good!
Source: One Green Planet
Preparing the Lentils
Red lentils are one of my favourite lentils to cook with because they are just so quick and easy. They are also super inexpensive and available in most grocery stores. They’re also great for you being high in protein, fibre and low in fat. So let’s get to cooking them!
As with any lentils pick the red lentils over and discard any gnarly ones or stones. Your teeth with thank you.
Rinse the lentils well. You can run them under water in a fine sieve until the water runs clear or swish and repeat as I do.
Swish and Repeat: To swish, put the lentils in a large pot or bowl and add water to cover. Swish the lentils and water around with your hands. The water will turn cloudy – at this point drain it out. Add more clean water and repeat the process until the water is clear after swishing.
Once the lentils are rinsed, add them to a pot with 3 and three-quarter cups of fresh water. Don’t go rogue on me – follow the measurement as the amount of water will affect the thickness of the finish dal. Bring the water to a boil skimming off any white foam that appears on top of the water. Reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook for 15 minutes. The lentils will cook for another 5 minutes when you add them to the tarka so try not don’t overcook them.
After the lentils are cooked, whisk them for a minute to break them up. After you prepare your tarka, the lentils will be stirred in and left to infuse. Simples.
Red lentils after simmering and a quick whisk After adding the tarka
While this red lentil dal is completely delicious on it’s own I love adding silky roasted eggplant cubes to mine. I pop them in the oven before I begin cooking the lentils and find they are ready pretty much at the same time the dal is. Cubed pumpkin, carrot or sweet potato also works beautifully. You will just have to adjust their cooking times.
Cut eggplant in to cubes and massage with olive oil and season The eggplant after roasting for 30-minutes ready to be added to the dal
Pro Tips
- Be prepared! Before I cook anything I make sure all my ingredients are ready to go. I pop the mustard seeds and cumin seeds in a little bowl with the ground spices in another. Everything is at hand ready for cooking.
- Cheat! Before cooking I throw my tomatoes and garlic in to my processor to chop together. I wipe the bowl out and also chop my onion followed by my green peppers (chillies) separately.
- Adjust! If you don’t like things too spicy, remove the seeds from the green peppers before chopping.
Healthy, aromatic and so easy to make, this Masoor dal makes a wonderful and quick dinner. While I would still like to try my husband’s vegetable curry again one day (hint!) I am more than happy to bide my time with this gloriously golden and flavoursome bowl. Enjoy,x.
Faq’s
Can I freeze my Masoor Dal?
Yes! Once cooled completely, you can pop your dal in to a sealed, freezer-friendly container safely for up to 3 months. NOTE: Dal will keep in the fridge for only a few days.
Can I use canned tomatoes?
You can. It will change the flavour slightly but they will work fine in a pinch. A 400ml can (13.5oz) should do the trick.
More quick and healthy recipes:
- Walk-away Chickpea Tomato and Spinach Curry
- Easy Red Lentil Masala with Spinach
- 5-Ingredient Pumpkin Lentil Soup with Ginger
- Tofu Yakitori
Masoor Dal with Roasted Eggplant
Ingredients
For the Eggplant
- 2 medium eggplants cubed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
For the Masoor Dal
- 1 ¼ cups / 255g dried red lentils
- 3 ¾ cups / 937ml water
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or a neutral flavoured cooking oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 onions finely diced
- 1 tbsp ginger finely grated
- ¾ tsp garam masala
- ¾ tsp turmeric
- 1 ½ tsp ground coriander seeds
- 3 tomatoes, well chopped well 240 grams cherry tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2-3 green chillies remove seeds if you don't like things too hot
- 1 tsp salt
- a good crack of black pepper
Instructions
- To prepare the eggplant preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line a roasting tray
- Combine the eggplant cubes, olive oil and salt in a bowl and massage to combine. Lay the eggplant out on the prepared tray and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
- While the eggplant is cooking, pick over the red lentils and remove any hard stones. Rinse thoroughly – until the water runs clear – before adding them to a saucepan with the water.
- Bring the lentils to a boil over medium heat skimming any foam from the top. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 15 minutes. When cooked, whisk the lentils and any remaining water to break up and combine.
For the Tarka
- While the lentils are cooking, prepare the tarka. Heat the oil in a skillet or pan over medium to high heat. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook for twenty seconds or until the seeds begin to pop. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and ginger and cook for 3-5 minutes until soft. Stir reguarly so they don't stick to the pan too much.
- Stir in the garam masala, turmeric and ground coriander seeds and cook while stirring for 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and garlic and the chopped chillies. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the lentils and reduce the heat to low. Add the salt and pepper and the roasted eggplant and cook the complete dal for 5 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
- Serve with rice or naan bread, dairy-free natural yoghurt and fresh coriander.
Notes
- Be prepared! Before I cook, I make sure all my ingredients are ready to go. I pop the mustard seeds and cumin seeds in a little bowl with the ground spices in another. Everything is at hand ready for cooking.
- Cheat! I throw my tomatoes and garlic in to my processor to chop together. I wipe the bowl out and also chop my onion followed by my green peppers (chillies) separately.
- Adjust! If you don’t like things too spicy, remove the seeds from the green peppers before chopping.
- Fresher lentils will cook more quickly than less-fresh ones – you know… the ones living in the back fo your pantry.
Nutrition
Hi Amanda, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe later today. I have a bag of yellow lentils in my pantry,. Are they ok to use? or should i get some red ones. I am popping to the shops for a couple of other things so it would be easy.
Thanks 🙂
Hey Kat,
You can totally use split chickpeas (chana dal) or small yellow lentils (moong dal) in this recipe. Rinse, the same as the red lentils, and then pop them in a pot with the water and cook for 35 – 40 minutes (for the chana dal) or 25-30 minutes (for the small yellow lentils) with the lid partially covering. The remaining process is the same. Add more water if required when cooking – you made need a touch more than 3 and 3/4 cup but start there. Let me know how it goes! 🙂 Take care. x
Thanks Amanda,
I ended up getting red lentils, it came out really well. The kids enjoyed it with rice. I held back the eggplant for them – but I loved it. Will add it to my go to recipies!!
Kat x
Awesome. I am glad you like it and the kids did too. You can mix it up a little with other vegetables. Ones the kids will eat too 😉