Masoor Dal Recipe - Indian Red Lentil Curry

Name: Whole Masoor Dal or Red Lentils Curry
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 250 g Red Lentils (Skinned Whole Masoor (Or Skinned Split Masoor)); 2 Tomatoes; 2 Green Chillies; 5 Garlic cloves; 1 Tablespoons Red Chili Powder; 1 Tablespoons Garam masala; 6 Kokum petals (or 1 Tamarind pod); 1 Tablespoons Salt; 2 Tablespoons Oil; 500 ml Water; 10 Small White Onions (or Kandries ); 2 Semi-ripe Mangoes (Sliced)

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Mom’s easy to make Masoor Dal recipe is an everyday favourite in most Indian households. Served with fried vegetables, fried eggs, or even fried fish on the side, this healthy dish is gluten free, vegetarian and as tasty as ever.

Most of us Indians eat a variety of dals on an almost daily basis. Okay, we don’t eat it as regularly as other Indians do, but it is a staple food around here. Vegetarians eat masoor dal or moong dal with papad or pickle or some other veggie dish that’s served with rice or rotis. Non-vegetarians eat it with fried fish or eggs or vegetables dishes.

What Ingredients do you need for this red lentil Curry?

To make this red lentil dal recipe, all you need is whole or split red masoor dal aka red lentils, oil, tomatoes, chilies, garlic, chilly powder, garam masala, kokum, salt, and water.

Kokum is a small fruit that’s popularly used for seasoning in our local Maharashtrian or Konkan cuisine. The dried kokum rind imparts a tangy or slightly sour taste to dishes that we love, while also giving it a maroonish-pinkish tinge. If we don’t have kokum on hand, we can also use tamarind, or sometimes just plain old sour limes.

If you don’t find kokum in the Asian section of your local store, you can skip it. But if you add it, the flavor is a lot better than regular masoor dal.

How to cook red lentils

Start by soaking the red lentils in water. You basically rinse the lentils and allow them to soak for about a half-hour. You can use the whole or split lentils for this recipe. We’ve used the whole lentil. If you look closely at this picture below, these red lentils have been skinned but not split. If they had been split they wouldn’t look like tiny macarons. 😉 So anyway, skinned whole red lentils or skinned split red lentils work; as long as they’re skinned!

Whole Masoor Dal or Whole Red Lentils. — Whole Masoor Dal or Whole Red Lentils

Tomatoes, garlic and green chillies on a yellow chopping board. — Tomatoes, garlic and chillies

Slice the tomatoes into wedges and cut the chillies and garlic fine. Soak the kokum petals in half a cup of water and set aside for later.

Chopped tomatoes, green chillies and garlic with kokum on a yellow chopping board. — Chopped tomatoes, green chillies and garlic with kokum

Heat the oil in a vessel and add the chopped garlic, chillies, and tomatoes. Saute for a few minutes.

Chopped tomatoes, chillies and garlic in a steel vessel. — Add the chopped ingredients to the vessel

Add in the chili powder and garam masala and mix well.

Chilli powder and garam masala added to the ingredients in the stainless steel pot. — Add in the chilli powder and garam masala

Add the water, red masoor dal, kokum with water, and salt to the vessel. The kokum adds a tangy taste to the dish. If you do not have kokum, use can replace it with tamarind which has the same effect. You’ll find these ingredients in the Asian section of your supermarket.

Add water, red dal, salt and kokum to the pot. — Add water, red dal, salt and kokum

Allow this to cook on high flame for about 10 mins with an open lid.

Cooked Masoor Dal in a stainless steel pot. — Cooked Masoor Dal

And your dal is ready! Serve hot with pav or rotis or rice. For a side, use some pickle or fried fish or fried brinjal vegetable.

red lentil curry or Masoor dal, ready to serve in a white dish. — Masoor dal, ready to serve

Indian masoor dal aka red lentil dal in a white bowl — Masoor dal is one of the best staple meal dishes in India

What’s perfect about this Red Lentil recipe?

It’s quick and easy to make, just 10 minutes of actual cooking time.
You can serve it with rice, pav, rotis, or chappatis.
It goes well with a number of Veg or Non-Veg side dishes, but is perfect all on its own too!

Masoor dal in a black dish with white baby onions and mango. — Masoor dal with kandries and semi ripe mango

Masoor dal with white baby onions and semi-ripe mango in a black dish. — Masoor dal with semi-ripe mango and white pearl onions

Cooking Tips or Tricks

If you have East Indian bottle masala, you can use this instead of the chilli powder and garam masala.
If you do not have Kokum, use Tamarind instead.
When you have guests over, you can add 2 tablespoons of fresh cream, ghee, or butter on top just before serving. It adds some awesomeness.
You can also add semi-ripe mango slices and also white baby onions to the dal for a different flavour.

FAQ’s about Red Lentils

What goes well with red lentil curry ?

You can serve red lentil curry with pickles or salads, or just some fried fish or fried vegetables. It’s perfect on its own too with some bread, rice or roti.

Do Red Lentils need to be soaked before cooking?

Yes, you need to soak masoor dal in water for about half-hour before cooking. The longer the better.

What is kokum?

Kokum is a tiny fruit that is dark purple in colour and local to Maharashtra and Goa. It adds acidity and sourness to the dish as well as a maroonish-pinkish colour.

What is garam masala?

This is a mixture of various hot spices ground together to a powder. The most common ingredients are coriander, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper. Different variations of garam masala also contain chili powder, mace, fennel seeds, cloves, bay leaves, star anise, and other ingredients. You’ll find garam masala in the Asian section of your supermarket.

What are Kandries?

Kandries as we Eastyas call them are small white onions that are smaller and sweeter than normal onions. They are also called white pearl onions, baby onions, picklers, cocktail onions, and button onions. Kandries are perfect for onion pickles too.

Why add mangoes to the dal?

Adding mangoes to the dal gives it a nice tangy flavour.

Do the mangoes added to the dal have to be raw or ripe?

You should add semi-ripe mangoes to the dal.

Why add whole baby onions to the dal?

You can eat it in one bite and they give you a burst of juicy sweet onion flavour.

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