North Indian Dal Fry

Dal is a stew made from split peas or lentils. Split peas and lentils cook more quickly than whole beans and peas, so they’re a great staple food, to be ﬂavored as you like. A dal fry is a North Indian standby where to you take a helping of plain cooked dal and fry it with a little garlic and onion. For serving, it is brought to the table piping hot with fresh chapattis and a cupful of yogurt.

Filed Under: Asian Heritage Diet, Vegetarian & Vegan Diet, Main dishes, Dinner, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-free

Rating

Average: 0 (0 votes)

Active time

15 minutes

Total time

40 minutes

Yield

4 servings

Serving Size

1/4 recipe

Ingredients

1 cup mung dal (split mung beans, yellow in color – can substitute red lentils)

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon cumin

⅛ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups water

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 to 3 cloves garlic, ﬁnely chopped

1 medium-sized onion, ﬁnely chopped

2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped

1 cup plain yogurt, for serving

Instructions

In a large pot, add the mung dal (or red lentils), turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, salt and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, approximately 20-30 minutes.
After about 20 minutes, when the dal is nearly done, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil to coat the pot, then toss in the garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, and cook for one minute longer, stirring the entire time.
Pour in the cooked dal (being careful to watch out for spattering as the dal hits the oil) and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to combine.
Serve with yogurt, if you wish.

An Oldways recipe