- Moong Dal
- Onions (finely chopped)
- Tomatoes (finely chopped)
- Garlic pods (finely chopped)
- Green chillies (finely chopped)
- Cilantro or Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- Turmeric (Haldi) powder
- Coriander (Dhaniya) powder
- Asafoetida (Hing)
- Amchur
- Garam masala
- Vegetable Oil (I use mustard oil)


Procedure:
1. Boil 1 cup of moong dal in a pressure cooker with salt, turmeric powder and water. I use 1:5 dal to water ratio and pressure cook for 1 whistle. (Please note that the dal to water ratio and number of whistles can vary. Choose what is best for you).

2. In a frying pan, add mustard oil (or any vegetable oil of your choice) and let it warm. To the warm oil, add cumin seeds. Once the seeds start sputtering, add finely chopped garlic. I use mustard oil because the smell of fresh garlic in warm mustard oil is just heavenly!

3. Once the garlic turns golden brown in color, add the finely chopped onions and green chillies.



4. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the finely chopped tomatoes and mix.

5. Start adding the spices and masala powders at this stage and mix. I also add some salt at this stage to let the mixture cook faster.





6. Turn the heat to medium low and cover the frying pan and let the mixture cook well. When the tomatoes are cooked, you will notice oil leaving the sides of the pan.

7. To this mixture, add the boiled dal and some water. The quantity of water will depend on your preferred consistency of the dal. When the dal starts boiling (bubbles appear), and add some chopped coriander leaves.


8. Voila! Your dal is ready! Enjoy with steamed rice and a spoonful of ghee 🙂 Bon appetit!

Welcome to the Cooking Club! Dair aaye, durust aaye.
I also follow the same recipe broadly speaking, though I don’t tend to use Hing or Amchur. I have seen the use of hing more pronounced in communities who tend to avoid garlic and onions. It’s good for digestion though, so no harm in adding it.
I also like the fact you are using green chillies instead of chili powder. I like when i get sudden burst of heat!
Apart from moong dal, another popular daal recipe in North India is the combination of moong-masoor (red lentils). I don’t know what is the authentic recipe, but I cook it in exactly the same fashion. You should try it out sometime.
Thank you for your comment Yasser! Try adding Hing and Amchur to your recipe and let me know how it tastes 🙂 I sometimes add a bit of ajwain too to aid in digestion.
I make the masoor and moong dal separately. But will try mixing them and will let you know how it comes out 🙂
Good start…keep going!
Thank you Rajkumar 😊