4.1/5 rating (30 votes)

Moong Masoor di Dhal

Red lentil and split mung lentil dhal

  • Heat Medium
  • Serves 6
  • Dietary Info VEGETARIAN VEGAN HEALTHY
  • Prep 10 mins
  • Cook 20 mins

A lovely mixed dhal cooked with a spicy tomato masala and flavoured with cumin and bay leaves

Hari says

A light yellow lentil dhal cooked with split yellow mung beans and red lentils. This is a basic everyday dhal that works as a delicious soup for lunch or as a wholesome side for your curry night.

It's nice and simple to make and the dish is not only full of flavour but also full of protein and is super healthy.

It is also a great recipe for the little ones (just miss out the chillies and salt) and mix it up with some rice and they will love it.

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 100g of split red lentils washed
  • 100g split mung beans washed
  • 900ml water 1 tsp salt

Masala

  • 1 tbsp ghee , butter or oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 or 2 whole red chillis to garnish
  • Handful of coriander, chopped

Method

  1. Place the red lentils in a pan with the salt, cover with the water and bring to the boil.
  2. Remove the froth and add the split mung beans.
  3. Reduce the heat and put the lid on the pan - leave to simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Check the lentils are cooked by squeezing them between your fingers. Once soft remove from the heat.
  5. In a frying pan heat the oil or butter.
  6. Using a fork pierce the red chillis and add to the pan with a bay leaf and the cumin seeds. When the seeds sizzle, remove the chilli and set to one side for your garnish.
  7. Add the onion and garlic and fry until lightly browned.
  8. Reduce the heat and add the tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, and the chopped chilli. Gently let the ingredients cook down to make a thick dry paste (10 mins).
  9. Add a ladle full of the cooked lentils (dhal) to the masala paste in the frying pan and stir together, then empty all the contents back into the pan with the lentils and stir.
  10. It should have the consistency of a thick soup but if it's too thick just add a little boiling water and remove from the heat.
  11. Stir in the garam masala, coriander and top with the whole chillis to serve.

Nutritional information

Typical values* per Serving
Calories173
Fat (g)4
of which saturates (g)2
Carbohydrates (g)27
of which sugars (g)6
Fibre (g)6
Protein (g)10
Salt (mg)11
*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.

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Comments

Comments (15)

  • Liz Elmore-Elkin

    13 March 2019 at 16:12 |
    I have just made this dahl for my family to 'snack on' and for my husband to eat after a gym session as it's high in protein. My 12 year old son has a huge appetite and has just tried this and asked for more!! I love cooking authentic curries and this one has come up trumps. I am going to work may way through the other dahl recipes I can cook in bulk as I am also after recipes I can use for packed lunches during the week. The ladies I work with love it when I try new recipes so I'll see what they think of this tomorrow. Thank you!

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      19 March 2019 at 11:55 |
      Hi Liz - I am so happy to read your comments. Really pleased this is a winner for you. Have you tried any more yet? Thanks Hari

      reply

  • Patti

    17 April 2018 at 01:20 |
    16 April, 2018
    Thank you so much for sharing this warming recipe. I am preparing it now for the third time in as many weeks!
    Everyone here who has tried it loves it! Looking forward to trying many more of these recipes.
    If this one is an indication, there is a lot to look forward to!
    Mahalo from another fan, who also gives a high
    five rating!

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      18 April 2018 at 11:54 |
      Mahalo Patti Thank you for your very kind words - I am so pleased to hear that you enjoyed this dish. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the other dishes. Please do share pictures of your dishes with me too through my App. Are you in Hawaii? Thanks so much Hari

      reply

  • Dawn

    11 February 2018 at 19:06 |
    HI,
    I am interested in trying out this recipe. Are red chili's hot? Could I use a milder chili or even omit it altogether?
    Thanks,
    Dawn

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      22 March 2018 at 19:45 |
      Hi Dawn - if you don't like heat then just omit the whole chillies for the garnish and just use half a chilli instead when you add the tomatoes. you can totally leave them out if you don't like any heat. let me know how you get on. Hari

      reply

  • Pat

    18 November 2017 at 22:00 |
    Please don't be sorry Hari, I'm sorry! Pardon the hyper-focused attention to detail, I'm probably the only one who noticed, hehe. I worked in I.T. for 7 years with a couple fortune 500 companies and wrote a lot of technical documentation (a bit rusty now though, admittedly). Given my background, I'll gladly be your proof reader :)
    By the way, I love this dish. I've made it the most so far (4 times now) since I started learning to cook Indian food a month ago under your guidance. A lot of the ingredients have been tough to find but I'm steadily building an arsenal to tackle any dish.
    Cheers,
    Pat

    reply

  • Pat

    15 November 2017 at 19:43 |
    Hi Hari,
    Can you provide clarification on line 3 in the ingredients list? "900ml water 1 tsp salt. Masala".
    Just confused, my guess would be "Masala" on this line is an instruction to mix a tsp of salt into 900ml of water? :) Not too confident in my guess, hehe! Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
    Thanks Hari

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      18 November 2017 at 07:43 |
      Hi Pat would you like to be my proof reader? Thanks so much the masala should be the heading for the section below. I have amended this so should now make sense - sorry!

      reply

  • Rick

    08 January 2017 at 05:51 |
    Really good and easy to make. After cooking, and before adding the beans, I put the paste mixture into the food processor for a couple quick pulses. Since I had buttermilk on hand I added 1 tablespoon after removing from the heat. Super good. Thanks for another great recipe!!!

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      08 January 2017 at 21:01 |
      Hi Rick Thanks for using the recipes on the website - so good to hear that you love this one. I love your little twists too. Thanks so much for your comments Hari

      reply

  • Daisy

    18 January 2016 at 21:49 |
    Greetings from San Franncisco.
    Great recipes. I have been diagnosed with acid reflex lately and was told to stay off tomatoes, any substitutes?

    Thanks
    Daisy

    reply

    • Hari Ghotra

      21 January 2016 at 08:33 |
      Hi Daisy all the way over there in San Francisco (one of my favourite places in the whole world after Hawaii) How's the weather? This is a fairly common problem, what you can do is roast some red peppers and make a puree with that. It will give a slightly sweeter flavour but will add the body that you want. To add a bit of tang you could add a little tamarind but this may also aggravate your reflux. The other one that is a good sub in Indian dishes it a roasted butternut squash (or any squash really) paste. You can also use this in lots of other sauces too instead of tomatoes. I have also heard that this is quite good but I haven't tried it and I don't like to recommend without trying so let me know if you do try it http://www.nomato.com/index.htm.
      I hope this helps - please let me know how you get one. If you find something else that works for you please do let me know. Also there are lots of Indian dishes that don't have tomato in them so look out for those on the site too. Hope this helps.
      Thanks Hari

      reply

  • Hari Ghotra

    22 July 2015 at 20:19 |
    Hi Julie thats fantastic to hear! please do keep in touch with any other recipes you try. Thanks Hari

    reply

  • Julie

    21 July 2015 at 17:33 |
    This is beautiful, I have tried both the red lentil & this one with mixed lentils & both are easy to make & easily adaptable (chilli !)
    I'm your new number 1 fan, 5 Stars from me.

    reply

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