A simple and delicious, dal or lentils curry recipe made the Bengali way for a satisfying meal when coupled with steaming hot rice
What is that one food, you want to come back home to, from a long holiday and have? For me, that has got to be dal-chawal. Or the humble Indian lentil curry with steamed rice. To me, the combination of dal and rice is beyond it just being comfort food. In fact, it is an emotion – a feeling of home. And that is why, I am sharing with you a very basic mushoor dal or the Bengali masoor dal (red lentil curry) recipe. To be honest, this isn’t much of a recipe. Just a handful of ingredients and a very simple method. Nonetheless, because this one is so close to my heart, the recipe had to be on the blog. 🙂
Red lentils or the masoor dal is very commonly made in Bengali homes. And there are loads of variations to it’s cooking process. You will find recipes with and without onions, with and without tomatoes, with different tempering and so on. I am sure you are wondering, which one out of these is mine. Well, mine is, as I said the simplest of the lot. My Bengali masoor dal (red lentil curry) recipe doesn’t have onions or tomatoes. What it does have is, a simple tempering of nigella seeds and chilis. Also, needless to say, that having made this in mustard oil, it’s lovely sweet fragrance, floats through the dal as you have it. And not to forget, the freshness of the coriander. Hence, this truly is, food for the soul! And that is why I crave this humble curry after a long vacation.
Also see,
Cholar dal (Bengali chana dal)
Toker dal (Bengali raw mango dal)
Aloo peyaj bhaja (Bengali aloo bhaja)
Masoor dal masala – Brown lentil curry
Bhaja moong dal (Bengali roasted moong dal)
Healthy recipe
While I have paired my masoor dal with some aloo posto and plain rice, you don’t necessarily need to. Because, not only does this work as a side dish, but it also is a hearty soup. Yes, you could have it along side some crisp bread sticks, too. This is also your Indian lentil soup. So, you can make a big batch of this on a Sunday to last you as a weekday dinner too. And let me tell you, this is amazing as a weekend lunch too. I just make a fresh batch of my Bengali masoor dal (red lentil curry) and cook some rice in the microwave oven. And my Saturday afternoon lunch is taken care of! Moreover, this is a super healthy recipe. The dal is made with just a tablespoon of oil. And there is no deep frying or even ghee that goes on in this one.
The Indian cuisine has hundreds of lentil curry recipes, and some of them indeed rich. And while, my dal appears to very humble in comparison, it is immensely satisfying. So, do try it out soon and drop me a line of feedback in the comments section. I’d love to hear from you.
Eat hearty!
Bengali masoor dal (red lentils curry)
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- ½ cup masoor dal (red lentils) washed and soaked in water for 15 minutes
- 1 tsp nigella seeds kalonji
- 2 dried red chilis
- 2 fresh green chilis slit
- 3-4 tbsp coriander leaves chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp mustard oil or any regular oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, cook the dal (lentils) with 1½ cups water, some salt and the turmeric powder, until completely cooked
- Once the pressure cools off, whisk the dal until smooth
- Heat a shallow cooking pot with the mustard oil until pale, then add the nigella seeds and the chilis
- Fry these for a couple minutes and then add the whisked dal
- Mix in well and then add ½ cup of water and some more salt, if needed
- Let the dal come to a boil, add the coriander leaves and switch the flame off
- Serve this simple and satisfying Bengali masoor dal (red lentils curry) with steaming hot rice. Enjoy!
Notes
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
