Hearty and satisfying, this Oil-Free Indian Smoky Masoor Red Lentil Dal is easy to make. Pantry staples like lentils and spices make this a great go-to plant-based dinner for a weeknight meal.
What is Indian Masoor Red Lentil Dal?
Lentil dal, also sometimes spelled dahl or dall, is a traditionally vegetarian dish found in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Dal is often made from legumes like chickpeas, lentils, beans, or peas. These legumes are cooked for a long time, until they become thick and creamy. Dal is usually flavored with aromatics such as onion, garlic, chiles, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and turemric. It is sometimes finished with a dash of garam masala or chopped tomatoes.
How is Dal Served?
Dal is usually served as a main entree, but you can also enjoy it as a side dish or dip. It’s usually served with steamed basmati rice, roasted cauliflower, baked naan, or Quick Whole Wheat Flatbread.
Why Is this Recipe Oil-Free?
Traditional Indian Masoor Dal will use oil or ghee (clarified butter) to toast the spices and aromatics at the beginning of the recipe. However, I’ve found sweating the onion and garlic in a splash of water gets the same effect, with a cleaner taste and fewer calories. Plus, skipping the ghee keeps this recipe 100% plant-based vegan, as it avoids using any dairy products.
For more about my oil-free philosophy, check out: My Responsibilities as a Chef Part Three: Pushing the Limits
What Kind of Legumes or Lentils Should I Use for Dal?
For this recipe, I recommend using split red lentils. Split lentils are literally split in half, which helps them breakf down quickly and speed up the cooking time. This creates a creamy, satisfying dal.
Also, once the lentils cook down, their red color fades to yellow: a warming, inviting color. Plus, red lentils are generally easy to find. They’re affordable and available at most grocery stores (near the rice) or online.
Do I Need to Soak Lentils Before Cooking?
Technically, no you don’t need to soak lentils before cooking. One of the beautiful things about lentils is they are small and cook much faster than beans. However, from my experience cooking lentils for myself and others, I can say that soaking lentils for at least 2 hours can drastically help with digestion. Also, it helps speed up the cooking process.
To soak lentils, simply place them in a wide bowl or container, cover with a few inches of water, and leave them on the counter for 1-2 hours. If soaking them for longer, place them in the refrigerator. After soaking, drain and thoroughly rinse the lentils in a fine-mesh collander. This helps wash off any dust and remove any gas the lentils may have released.
Watch this Video to Learn More About the Different Varieties of Lentils:
What is Garam Masala?
Garam Masala roughly translates to “hot mixture of spices”. It is much like curry powder in that it blends sweet and savory with ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and black pepper. Unlike curry powder, there is no turmeric or fenugreek, which explains why Garam Masala is never the bright yellow that Curry spice mixes will be.
Chef Katie’s Plant-Based Cooking Tips
Get the “Split”: Split red lentils break down into a creamy consistency when cooked. Whole lentils will take longer to cook, so be sure to get the split ones. You can use also yellow or green split peas, too, but these take a bit longer to cook.
Insta-Pot Cooking? If you want to make this in the Instapot, it’s incredibly easy. I recommend sautéing the onion, garlic, and ginger with all of the spices until the spices are aromatic and darken in color. Then, you can add your lentils (pre-soaked and rinsed). Put the lid on, set your Instapot to “Bean/Stew” (20 miuntes at High), and let it go!
Ways to Enjoy Dal: Dal is more than just a lentil dish. It makes a great sauce over baked red potatoes, grilled vegetables and quinoa, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, or Easy Wild Rice Pilaf.
Oil-Free Indian Smoky Masoor Red Lentil Dal
You’ll love this recipe for Oil-Free Indian Smoky Masoor Red Lentil Dal! It’s:
- Hearty and Satisfying
- Oil-Free, Plant-Based
- Gluten-Free Vegan
- Warming and Comforting
- Freezer-Friendly
- Insta-Pot Friendly
- A Good Source of Protein
If you like this recipe, you’ll also like: Baked Indian Curry Samosa Cakes, Oil-Free Indian Moong Dal Fry, Easy Chana Masala – Indian Chickpea Stew, Kumquat Date Spicy-Sweet Indian Chutney, and Khichdi: Curried Indian Mung Beans and Rice
And check out my posts about Indian cooking: Indian and Italian Cuisines: 6 Things you Already Know about Italian Food Can Help you Understand Indian Cuisine and Indian Cooking: Delicious, Oil-Free Recipes any Cook Can Master
Print Recipe
Oil-Free Indian Smoky Masoor Red Lentil Dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry red lentils soaked 1-2 hours, drained and rinsed thoroughly
- 1 onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced or grated
- 1 serrano pepper (to prefered spice level) seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Roma tomatoes seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
Instructions
To Soak the Lentils:
- Place the lentils in a wide bowl or non-reactive container. Cover with 2 inches of water. Let soak at room temperature for at least 2 hours. If soaking overnight, place in the refrigerator. When ready to use, drain the lentils and thoroughly rinse them in a fine-mesh colander, washing off any dust and residue from the soaking liquid.
To make the Red Lentil Dal:
- Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, and serrano pepper. Cover with a lid. Gently sweat until the mixture softens, about 5-7 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning. If the onion starts to burn, reduce the heat, add a splash of water, and stir well.
- Once the onion is soft, add all of the spices; cumin seed, coriander, ground cumin, curry powder, turmeric. Sauté until aromatic, 30-60 seconds.
- Add the water, scraping up any bits of spices from the bottom of the pan. Add the drained and rinsed lentils.
- Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer.
- Simmer until the lentils are soft and falling apart, about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove the lid. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and garam masala. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Enjoy with steamed basmati rice, roasted cauliflower, or on its own.
Nutrition Fact
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 4.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 204 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 1 g | 2 % |
| Saturated Fat 0 g | 0 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 0 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 0 mg | 0 % |
| Sodium 95 mg | 4 % |
| Potassium 175 mg | 5 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 35 g | 12 % |
| Dietary Fiber 9 g | 35 % |
| Sugars 3 g | |
| Protein 14 g | 28 % |
| Vitamin A | 7 % |
| Vitamin C | 15 % |
| Calcium | 4 % |
| Iron | 7 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Shopping and Gear List
- Pride Of India – Indian Split Masur Red Lentils – Protein & Fiber Rich Masoor Dal
- Frontier Garam Masala Certified
- 2-Ounce Premium Whole Bay Leaves
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