Maash Ki Daal – Urad Dal

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Maash Ki Daal – Urad Dal

Maash Ki Daal – Urad Dal

What is urad daal?

Urad daal is black gram lentils, split and husked, revealing a smaller, white variety of lentils.

Black gram lentils are, rather confusingly, also sometimes called urad lentils, but the proper Urdu word for it is ‘sabut urad daal’, or ‘whole urad daal’. The white lentils we’re cooking with in this recipe are correctly known as just ‘urad daal’.

In the image below, it’s the white variety on the left that we want. The black variety on the right is the whole, unhusked version, whereas the white variety is the split and husked.

Method

To begin, prepare the lentils by washing them in water, then ideally soaking them in water for up to an hour before cooking.

To begin, bring a pan of water to a boil, then add the urad lentils, some water and salt. Boil, covered and over a medium heat, for about 25-30 minutes, or until the lentils are al dente – i.e., almost tender. You’ll see a lot of froth rise to the top – and the reason behind boiling the lentils and then draining them before adding them to the curry base is so we can remove the froth.

Drain and set aside until ready to be used later in the recipe. Whilst that’s cooking, we can start working on the masala base in a separate pan.

Heat up some oil, then add in some finely diced onions. Fry over a high heat until they begin to turn golden, but don’t allow them to turn darker.

Add in some finely diced tomatoes, ginger, garlic and your spices, alongside a few splashes of water. Sauté this well, using your spoon to break down the mixture into a thick, jammy paste. This will take about 15 minutes, stirring often and adding water to help break down the mixture. Once the onions and tomatoes have broken down into a well-integrated paste, you can move on.

Add the boiled and drained urad daal from earlier into the onion and tomato mixture, alongside green chillies and some water. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

To serve, garnish with some fresh coriander, green chillies, slivers of garlic and chilli flakes. You don’t need to use all of these, use what you have to hand – but the garnishes do take this up a huge notch!

Ingredients

boil the lentils

1 cup (200 g) raw urad lentils (maash ki daal, washed and ideally soaked for an hour before cooking)
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt

For the masala base

- ⅓ cup (83 ⅓ ml) oil
- 1 (110 g) medium onion, finely diced
- 2 (180 g) small tomatoes, finely diced
- 1 ½ tablespoon garlic, minced about 5 cloves
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika Kashmiri red chilli powder or deghi mirch (for colour, optional)

optional garnishes: chopped fresh coriander, chopped green chillies, slivers of ginger, dried red chilli flakes.

Instructions

- Boil the urid lentils in an ample amount of water alongside salt and turmeric till al dente (almost cooked through, with a bit of a bite left) – about 25-30 minutes. Once done, drain and set aside. You can go on to making the onion and tomato masala whilst the lentils are boiling.
- In a separate pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Sauté this on high heat till they begin to turn lightly golden, stopping well before they turn a dark shade – about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, the ginger and garlic all the spices including the cumin seeds and a few splashes of water. Sauté this very well, stirring constantly to help break down the tomatoes. The mixture will become thick and jammy. This may take up to 15 minutes and if the tomatoes are not breaking down well, you may need to add some additional water to continue cooking and breaking down the tomato.

Once the masala has been prepared, add in the cooked urid lentils, the green chilli and ⅔ cup/160ml of water. Bring to a boil and then cook covered with a lid on low for about 10 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
To finish, garnish with any or all of the following: freshly chopped coriander, slivers of ginger, chopped green chilli and chilli flakes.

Maash Ki Daal – Urad Dal