Sabut Masoor Dal (Spiced Brown Lentils)

By Zainab Shah

Updated April 18, 2022

Sabut Masoor Dal (Spiced Brown Lentils)
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(763)
Comments
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Traditional dal takes about an hour to cook. This recipe cuts that time in half by using high heat throughout the cooking process, removing extra water once the dal is tender and simultaneously cooking the masala. This kind of efficiency does require the use of two utensils, and it means watching a couple of burners at a time. It’s worth the effort because in the end, there’s the warmth of a big bowl of dal in around 30 minutes, a miracle when such comfort is most needed.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 1cup whole masoor dal, soaked for 10 minutes and drained
  • 1bay leaf
  • ¼cup ghee or neutral oil
  • 1medium onion, finely chopped
  • ½teaspoon ginger paste or freshly grated ginger
  • ½teaspoon garlic paste or freshly grated garlic
  • ½teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½teaspoon Kashmiri red chile powder, or any ground red chile
  • ¼teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2medium plum tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 1teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3fresh Thai green chiles, stemmed and chopped
  • 2 to 3tablespoons of lemon juice, from about half a large lemon
  • ½teaspoon garam masala, for garnish
  • 1tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
  • Rice or roti, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

276 calories; 10 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 39 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 295 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a large (about 6-quart) pot, add 7 cups of water, the whole masoor dal and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on as high heat as possible until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    In the meantime, prepare the masala: In a medium-sized (8-inch) frying pan, heat ghee over medium heat for 30 to 45 seconds or until melted. Add onion, ginger and garlic, and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cumin, chile powder, turmeric and coriander. Mix well. Stir in tomatoes, add salt and Thai green chiles. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break down and the oil separates (it will form an outline around the jammy tomato), about 10 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Remove 1 cup water from the pot of dal with a ladle (remove more if you want the dal to be thicker, or less or none of you prefer it thinner). Stir the masala from the frying pan into the pot of dal. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or for 10 minutes for more tender dal. Turn off the stove, and stir in lemon juice. Sprinkle with garam masala and cilantro. Serve with rice, roti or by itself.

Ratings

4 out of 5
763 user ratings
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Comments

Koko The Talking Ape

Apparently masoor dal is just red lentils. (I didn't know, and I don't know why the Times didn't say that.) Also, high heat won't cook the lentils any faster than low heat, once it's boiling. If it's not in a pressure cooker, water always boils at the same temperature. Also, instead of boiling a lot of water and then removing the excess, you can just use less water. It may require more stirring and attention to prevent clumping and scorching, but lower heat will help with that too.

Sabena Singh

Don’t forget the kachumbar, a vital part of every Jndian meal. Diced tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced red onions, lemon juice, cilantro, salt, pepper and sprinkling of red chili powder.

N.Cali

This is a delicious red lentil dish. Instead of the rather anemic tomatoes available right now I used a can of Mutti crushed polpa and, thinking 1/2 tsp each of garlic and ginger rather stingy, I went for a heaping tsp of each. No Thai chiles to be found so used two whopping serranos. Oh, grating the onion is the way to go. I learned from Turkish cooks and grating the onion adds a wonderful texture and flavor to lentils. Tomato/cuke/cilantro/onion salad on side!!!

S

Sabut masoor dal is *not* the same as red lentils. Red lentils are *split and skinned* masoor, which is more quick cooking. Sabut masoor is the *whole and unskinned* masoor which is more slow cooking and has a different flavor profile. In Indian subcontinent recipes, 'sabut' refers to whole and unskinned lentils and 'dal' in most cases refers to the split and skinned version of the same lentil (e.g. sabut masoor vs masoor dal, sabut moong vs moong dal, etc.). Different cooking techniques/times

Leslie

Very well received, but I would cut back on the salt and the water.

kelbro

I followed the boiling directions but ended up scalding the bottom of the pan. I’ve never seen instructions to boil something at full heat for 25 minutes. That should’ve been a heads up. I would turn down the heat and just cook on medium until it’s done.

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