Lalla Mussa Dal

Name: Lalla Mussa Dal
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: indian
Ingredients: 1/2 cup whole black gram lentils (sabut urad); 1/8 cup whole green gram lentils (sabut moong); 2 green chiles (such as Indian harimirch or serrano), cut into thin strips; 1 1-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips; 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter; 3/4 cup tomato purée; 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, or cayenne; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 3/4 teaspoon crushed dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi); 7 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1/2 cup heavy cream; Salt to taste; 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips, for garnish

Recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor

Adapted by Priya Krishna

Lalla Mussa Dal — Meredith Heuer for The New York Times

Total Time: About 2½ hours
Rating: 4(384)
Comments: Read comments

This creamy lentil stew — a signature dish of the Indian celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor — has a base of urad dal, a slim variety of lentil that turns soft and velvety when cooked. The dal is hearty, with multiple levels of richness from the cream and butter. But its tangy complexity comes from a combination of tomatoes, garlic, coriander and fenugreek. (Look for the dried version of the greens from the fenugreek plant, not the brownish nuggets known simply as “fenugreek” on the spice shelf. You can also use the mixture of fenugreek greens, dried dill and dried leek sold at many Indian grocers.) Like most dals, this stew is best accompanied by long-grain basmati rice or roti — both excellent vehicles for sopping up the thick gravy. —Priya Krishna

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

½cup whole black gram lentils (sabut urad)
⅛cup whole green gram lentils (sabut moong)
2green chiles (such as Indian harimirch or serrano), cut into thin strips
11-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips
½cup melted unsalted butter
¾cup tomato purée
1teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, or cayenne
1teaspoon ground coriander
¾teaspoon crushed dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
7cloves garlic, finely chopped
½cup heavy cream
Salt to taste
1½-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Mix together both types of lentils and rinse thoroughly in salted water. Drain, add 1 cup water and soak for 1 hour.
Step 2
Drain lentils again, add to a small pot with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Skim the scum and dirt off the top and discard. Strain the lentils and return them to the pot. Add 1 cup water, the green chiles and ginger and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
Step 3
Add ¼ cup of the butter and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring often and mashing with the back of a big spoon as the lentils soften. After about 35 minutes, melt the remaining ¼ cup butter in a deep nonstick pan; add the tomato purée and sauté on low heat until fat rises to the surface.
Step 4
Add the red chili powder (or cayenne), ground coriander, fenugreek leaves and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to dry out and stick to the pan. Add the lentils and mix well. Add the cream and mix well. Add 1 cup water and salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Serve hot, garnished with ginger strips.

Ratings

4 out of 5

384 user ratings

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Comments

Prakash Nadkarni7 years ago

This is an elaborate (not necessarily better) version of Amritsari dal. The typical recipe pressure-cooks the legumes with the water, ginger, chilies, tomato puree and clarified butter (or vegetable oil), collapsing steps 1-3 into one. Machine-blending can replace hand-mashing. Toss in salt, spices,cream and ginger at the end:separate pan-frying of the species is optional. Urad and mung beans (genus Vigna) are not lentils (genus Lens) and have a different flavor profile: both are *legumes*.

ammoman5 years ago

Substituted a can of coconut milk for the heavy cream and used a Jalapeño instead of the prescribed pepper. Also used an immersion blender instead of mashing with the back of the spoon. It’s quite a forgiving and delicious dish. Excellent served with basmati rice.

NIna Palmer5 years ago

Yummy, although I did not use even half as much cream and butter. YOu can taste the flavors better, I think. Pressure cooked the lentils with ginger and chilies ( I used thai chillies). Meanwhile melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and cooked the tomato, garlic and spices all at the same time on low heat until oil separated. Mixed in with lentils and a drizzle of cream, and necessary water. Returned to just boiling.

Ella4 months ago

Outstanding. Used regular green lentils for moong lentils. Very rich, in a lovely way! It's not actually that complicated and was absolutely worth it.

Ken5 months ago

Coconut milk makes this dish outstanding!

Jette M.2 years ago

I find that lovage, fresh from the garden or dried, is a very good substitute for the aromatic green/sotolon component of fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi). You may even need less, since lovage leaves are so intense.

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