I love my Mom’s dal. Irfan, my partner, is a vegetarian and so we eat A LOT of dal, especially a lot of moong as I find it easiest to digest.

Ingredients

1 cup of yellow moong [you can also use 1/2 cup yellow moong & 1/2 cup masoor (red lentil) mix]
4 cups water
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tumuric
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 small green chillies whole
optional: 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

Tarka Ingredients

1 small onion chopped
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic (not minced)
1/2 tbsp chopped ginger (not minced)
4 tbsp olive oil

Directions for Dal

1. Soak dal overnight or for 8 hours
2. Place water in pot and bring to boil
3. Add dal, ginger, garlic, green chillies and all the spices EXCEPT garam masala and cook over medium heat for about 25-30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes until dal is soft (NOT including tarka ingredients). If you have a pressure cooker, cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes
4. Remove from heat

Directions for Tarka

1. Head olive oil over medium heat
2. Add onions and chopped ginger and garlic
3. Saute until they brown. You want them to brown but not burn

4. Pour tarka mixture over the dal and mix
5. Adjust spices to taste if desired
6. Sprinkle garam masala and chopped cilantro

Eat with either brown basmati rice or my gluten free rice roti with a side of your favourite greens.

Enjoy!

Courtesy of my Mom 🙂