Yellow Moong Dal

Hello Everyone! 

I am sure you all are having an awesome 1^st weekend of the season. Welcoming Fall means bidding adieu or goodbye to summer. I love the beginning of fall for its bright colors and cool air. Today, I decided to make quick, simple but tasty Yellow Moong Dal.  I cook yellow dal in many different ways and taste. But, this is simplest and quickest.

Yellow Moong Dal is good for adults and if you cook it thin & without much spices, it’s great for kids, as well. It doesn’t take long time to cook or much of ingredients, low in calories, healthy and yet full of flavor. I like to eat Yellow Moong Dal anytime of the year. I Love to have it with Roti/Chapati or Rice. I am sure you will enjoy it too.

Yellow Moong Dal Recipe

Serving: 4

Preparation time: 20-25mins

Cooking time: 20mins

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup of Yellow Moong Dal

3 cups of water for pressure cooker

3 cups water for dal

1 tbsp. of ginger chopped or paste

1 tbsp. of chilly chopped or paste

¼ tsp. of turmeric powder

½ tsp. garam masala powder

1 tsp. oil

1 tsp. butter or Ghee (I used Ghee)

2-3 pcs of cloves

½ tsp. of cumin seeds

¼ tsp. of Asafoetida or Hing

2-3 pcs. of dry whole red chilly

1 tbsp. of Lemon Juice

¼ cup chopped cilantro / coriander leaves

Process:

Take the dal in a bowl and wash it well. You can soak it for 20-30 mins in water if, you have time before pressure-cooking. I was short by time. So, I washed the dal, put it in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of and heat it on a stove.  Pressure-cook it for 4 whistle or 20 mins at medium heat. Now turn off the stove and let it simmer for 10mins. Now lift the whistle and let the air release from the cooker before you open. 

Open the cooker and check if the dal is cooked well. If not, add a little water & pressure-cook it again till it is cooked well.

Alternatively, you can also cook the dal in a microwave for about 30 mins.

Now, remove the cooked dal in another cooking pot and add water. You can also use a non-stick pot if you have one. If you like the dal to be thin in consistency, add a little more water than 3 cups. If you are eating the dal with roti, I prefer it to be little thicker. Now roughly blend the dal with a hand blender or stir it hard with a spatula, so you can have some gravy and some crushed dal.

 

Let the dal come to 3-4 boils. Make sure to stir it in between so that it doesn’t stick at the bottom. Let the dal reduce in quantity by boiling some of its water content. Next, add garam masala and bring it to a boil. 

Now it’s time for tadka.

In a small fry pan, add oil & ghee / buter. Heat it and add cloves, cumin seeds, asafoetida and lastly dry whole red chilies. Take it off the stove and add it to the dal. Make sure you reduce your stove’s heat to slow while adding the tadka. Now let the dal come to one more boil and then turn off the heat. 

Add lemon juice to it. Shake well and cover it with a lid. Let the dal rest covered for 5 mins before you serve. Garnish it with chopped cilantro /coriander leaves before you serve.

Enjoy it with Roti or Rice.

Tip 1: If by any chance water is running out of pressure cooker while cooking. Don’t get scared. Reduce the heat to slow and stay away from stove till it stops. Running water out of cooker can only make mess around.

Tip 2: Letting the cooker cool and letting off air from by raising the whistle before opening pressure cooker can prevent accidents.

Tip 3: Any Indian dal needs to be well boiled / cooked. Once the dal is cooked, turn off the heat & let it rest for 5-10mins with the lid covered. This helps the flavor to settle in.

Hope this tips help you well and you enjoy cooking.

Cheers!