Learn how to make a simple but spectacular basic Indian dal recipe with under 10 ingredients. This creamy dal makes a delicious weeknight meal with rice or roti, and it is loaded with heart-healthy plant protein, fiber and vitamins.
If you popped into my house for dinner on a weeknight, you'd likely be served dal and rice with a sabzi or a vegetable side. The dal would almost certainly look like this one I am sharing with you today because it is one of our favorites. It comes together in a hurry, is deeply satisfying and comforting, and it is fingerlickin' good.
What is dal?
Dal is a collective term for split legumes in many parts of India and in other south Asian countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. It is also the name of a lentil soup-like dish that's served with rice or a flatbread like roti or chapati.
Dal can be made with one or a mix of several legumes, including toor dal, urad dal, chana dal, moong dal, and many more. All lentils are amazingly healthy, and combined with a grain like rice or wheat they make a complete protein.
There are millions of ways to make a dal. But at its most basic nearly every dal would be spiced with a "tadka" or tempering of mustard and/or cumin seeds, turmeric and chili peppers. You can add vegetables to dal, although versions without vegetables are just as common. Some Indian lentil recipes, like a south Indian kootu, are flavored with spices blended with coconut.
If you are familiar with Indian cuisine and love a good dal, I've already shared with you some of my all time favorite Indian lentil recipes, including Dal Tadka, vegan Dal Makhani, Parsi Vegetable Dhansak, Rajasthani Panchmel Dal, Whole Masoor Dal and Spicy Urad Dal.
This amazing recipe I am sharing today, my favorite and best recipe, needs just a handful of simple ingredients, and it comes together quickly. I cook the lentils in my Instant Pot and sometimes in a stovetop pressure cooker. These are the quickest and most efficient ways to tenderize lentils, although if you don't have a pressure cooker you can cook the lentils on the stovetop--it will just take longer.
The recipe has nine grams of protein and seven grams of fiber in a single serving, making it one of the healthiest foods you can eat. What's not to love?
Why you will love this dal recipe
- Creamy and comforting. This dal will leave you feeling satisfied and healthy. Learning how to cook with lentils is a wonderful tool in your culinary arsenal because of how healthy they are. Dal with rice or roti is among the most nourishing meals you can eat. But this dish can also be eaten by itself, like a soup, and it's delicious that way.
- Nourishing and vibrant. Despite the small ingredient list there are so many great flavors in this dish: salty, tangy, spicy and sweet. It will awaken every tastebud in your mouth.
- It is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free. Everyone can eat it it is very kid friendly! My teenager has always loved it.
Expert tips
- Use yellow lentils, or toor dal. These work best in traditional Indian lentil recipes because they have a neutral flavor and a texture that becomes soft and creamy when cooked. As a result you get a smooth consistency where the water and lentils do not separate after cooking.
- Cook the lentils until they are very, very soft. The lentils should blend into a creamy consistency when you whisk them. This gives a creamy consistency to the dish.
- Keep a close eye while tempering or doing the "tadka". The tempering is a crucial stage and one you should never walk away from because the oil can quickly burn the spices. Make sure you pour in the cooked lentils as soon as the mustard begins to sputter.
- Add water for the perfect consistency. Besides the dal stock (any water the lentils were cooked in) use only water to thin out the lentils for an authentic flavor. You don't need vegetable stock or any other stock, which would just interfere with the true flavor.
Ingredients
- Split pigeon peas or toor dal (arhar dal/thuvaram paruppu). This is the lentil most commonly used in Indian kitchens and it gives an authentic taste and texture to the dish.
- Turmeric (haldi/halad/manjal podi). For the healthfulness and vibrant color it adds.
- Vegetable oil. Use any oil of your choice, including avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil or coconut oil. Please don't use olive oil in Indian cooking because the flavor doesn't work and olive oil should not be heated to the high temperatures needed for the tempering.
- Black mustard seeds (rai/sarso/mohri/kadugu). When mustard seeds crack open in oil, they add amazing flavor to the oil.
- Cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam). Cumin with dal is a match made in flavor heaven.
- Cilantro (dhaniya/kothimbir/kothamalli). This is a popular herb in Indian cooking because of its unique flavor. You can add it both during the tadka phase and at the end as a garnish.
- Green chili peppers (hari mirch/hirvi mirchi/pachai milagai). Use any moderate to spicy green chili pepper you can find, including jalapeno or serrano peppers.
- 2 medium tomatoes. These will add a nice tang.
- Salt to taste.
- Juice of ½ a lemon.
Would you like to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send this recipe to your inbox!
Optional ingredients
- Asafetida (hing/perungayam). This is optional but it is an ingredient worth stocking in your pantry if you love Indian food. Asafetida is a resin sold in powdered form in Indian stores. It adds a lovely umami to many Indian vegetarian dishes.
- Curry leaves (kadi patta/karuveppilai). Curry leaves add amazing flavor so they are well worth using if you have them or can access them.
How to make dal
- Cook the lentils until tender. Cook the lentils separately. If you add your seasonings to the pot and then add uncooked lentils, the time it takes to cook the lentils will leach out most of the flavors from your spices. You can cook lentils in the Instant Pot, a stovetop pressure cooker, or in a saucepan on the stovetop. See FAQs below for instructions on cooking lentils.
- Make the tempering or "tadka". The tadka is where you'll add most of the flavoring ingredients. Heat the oil in a dutch oven or karahi, then add the mustard and cumin seeds and asafetida, if using. As soon as the mustard seeds sputter, add the cilantro and optional curry leaves and the green chili peppers.
- Add the tomatoes. Saute the cilantro and curry leaves for a minute, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until they have expressed most of their juices and are very soft.
- Stir in the lentils. Add the cooked lentils (whisk first to break down the lentils) to the saucepan and mix it well. Add water to thin out the consistency--I add about a cup. You can make the consistency as thick or as thin as you like. A thicker consistency is better with rotis, a thinner consistency works well with rice.
- Bring to a boil, cover and cook for five minutes. This gives the flavors a chance to meld, making the final dish more delicious.
- Add lemon juice. Turn off the heat, then add in the lemon juice and garnish with more cilantro, if you like.
What to serve with dal
- Plain rice or a simple rice dish like this jeera rice (cumin rice).
- Roti or any Indian flatbread, like this vegan naan or aloo kulcha.
- A vegetable side dish, sabzi, like baingan masala, baingan bharta, aloo gobi or bhindi masala.
- Complete the meal with this beautiful vegan cucumber raita.
Recipe FAQ
Pick through the dry lentils to find anything that doesn't belong there. Then rinse them in two or three changes of water.
Cooking lentils in the Instant Pot: Add the lentils to the Instant Pot. You can add the lentils directly to the stainless steel IP liner (or a stackable steamer insert like this one works great and you can cook the rice and dal at the same time). Add 2 ½ cups water to the lentils and turmeric. Set the IP to pressure cook for 15 minutes. You can force release after 10 minutes or allow the pressure to release naturally. Whisk the lentils while still hot and before adding them to the dal until they are completely broken down and creamy. You can add a little water to the lentils if they are dry.
Cooking lentils in pressure cooker: Place the cleaned and washed lentils in the pressure cooker, add 3 cups water, and cook for three whistles.
Cooking lentils on the stovetop. Soak the lentils overnight or for at least four hours. Drain out the water and place the lentils in a saucepan with enough water to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil, then lower the stove to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils are tender. This should take you around 30 minutes. Check several times during cooking and add water if the lentils dry out.
Coconut milk is great in some dals (like this incredibly tasty coconut dal). However, I don't recommend adding it to this recipe because it will dilute the flavor of the spices. If you absolutely want to, add no more than 2 tablespoons of thick coconut milk.
This dal tastes best as it is. But if you want to you can add quick cooking veggies like leafy greens (spinach is a great choice) or zucchini (or try this zucchini dal) along with the tomatoes.
Dal leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to three days. You can also freeze it for up to three months.
Dal tends to thicken on standing so add water before reheating and add more salt if needed.
The Best Dal Recipe
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
- Dutch oven or saucepan with lid or karahi
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas/arhar dal/tuvar dal/thuvaram paruppu. Whisk the cooked lentils until creamy)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric (haldi/halad/manjal podi)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil (Use any oil of your choice, including avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil or coconut oil. Don't use olive oil because it cannot withstand the high temperature of the tadka)
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (rai/sarso/mohri/kadugu)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera/jeeragam)
- 2 tablespoon cilantro ((dhaniya/kothimbir/kothamalli. Finely chopped, plus more for garnish)
- 1-2 green chili peppers (like jalapeno or serrano. Cut into thin strips. Deseed for less heat)
- 2 medium tomatoes (finely diced)
- Salt to taste
- Juice of ½ lemon
Optional ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida or hing (hing/perungayam)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves (kadi patta/karuveppilai)
Instructions
- Cook the lentils until tender. See the FAQs for how to do this in an Instant Pot, a pressure cooker or a pan on the stovetop. Add the turmeric to the lentils before cooking.
- Make the tempering or "tadka". Heat the oil in a wide saucepan, dutch oven or karahi, then add the mustard and cumin seeds and asafetida, if using. As soon as the mustard seeds sputter, add the cilantro and optional curry leaves and the green chili peppers.
- Add the tomatoes. Saute the cilantro and curry leaves for a minute, then stir in the tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until they have expressed most of their juices and are very soft.
- Stir in the lentils. Add the cooked dal (whisk it first to break down the lentils) to the saucepan and mix it well. Add water to thin out the lentils--I add about a cup. You can make the dal as thick or as thin as you like. A thicker consistency is better with rotis, a thinner consistency works well with rice.
- Bring to a boil, cover and cook for five minutes. This gives the flavors a chance to meld.
- Add lemon juice. Turn off the heat, then add in the lemon juice and garnish with more cilantro, if you like.
Enid Kondos
You've developed a distinct writing style that makes the content easily identifiable.
vr
Delicious. Maybe someone more familiar with Indian cooking would have know to grind the spices, but I'm not and I didn't. The flavors would hav been more blended had I done so.Also, could you suggest how to use dried curry leaves.
Vaishali
Glad you enjoyed the recipe! There are no spices in this dal that need blending - you don’t blend cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Dried curry leaves have no flavor but if that’s all you have just use them instead of fresh. If you haven’t already bought them just skip and use cilantro instead.
Agi
When do you add the turmeric?
Thanks.
Vaishali
With the lentils, when you cook them.
Sumitra
Every time I make this dal I am surprised that something so simple tastes so good. It's a classic. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Vaishali
Aww.. so nice to hear that Sumitra. Happy you've loved the dal.
David Bragg
I had been longing for this dish for years after an Indian friend made it for me once but I tried it with red lentils and it was just wrong. This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. Comfort food over rice with naan or as a soup side dish. Such a versatile recipe. Add hot sauce or some veggies, the ways to tweak it are up to you, but this is wonderful as is
Vaishali
Thanks David! So happy you loved the dal.
Daryl Bambic
Hello Vaishali,
I have been a faithful follower of your blog for years and never left a comment. So many of your dishes are my family's favorites (banana bread, lemon cake etc). Recently, I tried this daal recipe and loved it. I have two questions: 1- can I used dried curry leaves instead of the fresh? and 2 - can I substitute tomato paste for the fresh tomatoes. Sometimes the fresh tomatoes are so darn expensive! (Once I paid $1.62 Canadian for ONE tomato!)
Thank you for all your work in this blog and I also really love to watch your YouTube videos as well.
Faithful follower,
Vaishali
Hi Daryl, thanks for the lovely message. 🙂 It is so nice to hear you've been making the recipes, and I appreciate you letting me know.
On your questions, yes, you can sub dried curry leaves but you won't get the same flavor as you do from the fresh, so if you don't already have dried curry leaves don't go to the expense of buying them. Just use the cilantro, add a little more perhaps. And yes, you can sub tomato paste. Use one to two tablespoons--too much might make the dal too acidic.
Ellen Poole
Full of flavour, easy to make and is definitely the Best Dahl recipe.
Vaishali
Yay, thanks Ellen! ❤️
Lisa
This recipes was absolutely delicious. I followed the instant pot cooking method and made everything as-written except doubled the spices including the curry leaves because I like a lot of flavor (but not the asafetida since that stuff is so potent) . My partner who doesn't typically enjoy Indian cuisine loved it - he ate two servings. I served it on basmati rice with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top. Amazing. Thank you!
Vaishali
Hi Lisa, so happy you loved the recipe! I hear you on asafetida. Usually a pinch is enough, but perfectly fine to leave it out. 🙂
Deborah Grantham
Made this for my husband. He is very particular about his Indian food. After 20 years together, he finally gave this dish 5 stars.
Vaishali
Wow, so awesome to hear, Deborah! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Paula
My favorite dal ever! The whole family loves it, including my five-year-old twins. We never have leftovers. Thanks for another amazing recipe.
Vaishali
Thanks for letting me know, Paula!
Rita D
Looking over the recipe I see no mention of how much water to use when cooking the lentils. Am I being blind? Please reply.
Vaishali
It's in the FAQs, as indicated in the recipe card. See under "how to cook lentils".
AJ
But are you supposed to change the water after the lentils are boiled? Or do you just add all the water with the lentils to the tadka?
Also feel that a precise water-to-lentil-ratio could be helpful 🙂
*gonna cook it now, will let you know how it went afterwards
Vaishali
No, don't throw away the water the lentils were cooked in. Add it to the tadka with the lentils. Because the sizes of pots and pans and pressure cookers vary, a good rule of thumb is to have enough water to cover the lentils by two inches.
Rea
Hello from London! 🇬🇧 Just discovered your amazing site. Can I cook this using yellow split peas? I mistakenly thought they’re toor. Thank you ☺️
Vaishali
Yellow split peas should work. In the U.S. that's what toor dal is labeled in supermarkets, but even if you got chana dal it should work with this recipe!
Nanette
This was excellent! I've never made dal that was as good as I'd get in an Indian Restaurant before.
Vaishali
Awesome!! So happy you made it. ❤️
Raxa
Best
Vaishali
Awesome!
Brenda
I can’t locate yellow lentils. What is a good substitute? Also, I can’t locate black mustard seeds. What could I substitute? Thank you.
Vaishali
Hi Brenda, you can use pink lentils. If you can't find the mustard seeds skip them and just use cumin seeds.
Ash
These are very common ingredients and is radially available everywhere go to any Indian spice store these things will be available unless stock is finished