This easy protein packed lentil salad has masoor dal (brown lentils) tossed with veggies, feta cheese and topped with a creamy Greek yogurt dressing. It's perfect for summer lunches and picnics!
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
For The Salad
- ½ cup masoor dal sabut (brown lentils)
- 1 cup water (to pressure cook the dal)
- 1 medium red onion (chopped)
- 1 medium red pepper (chopped)
- 1 medium green pepper (chopped)
- ¼ cucumber (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons mint (chopped or use parsley)
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese (crumbled)
- corn strips, croutons (for topping)
For The Dressing
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon za'atar
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- ½ lemon juice of
- 1-2 garlic cloves (minced)
- salt (to taste)
- ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1-2 tablespoons water (as needed)
Method
- Boil masoor dal (brown lentils) with 1 cup of water in the instant pot on high pressure for 7 to 8 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Drain the lentils using a colander. The lentils should be a little firm to bite.
- Chop all the vegetables- onions, peppers, cucumber and add to a large bowl. To the same now add the boiled dal along with chopped mint and crumbled feta cheese.
- Make the dressing by mixing together all the ingredients listed under "for the dressing". Add a little water only if the dressing seems too thick. This does make more dressing that you need for the salad, Leftover dressing will stay good in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- Pour as much dressing as you want over your salad. I recommend starting with 2 tablespoons, taste test and then add more as needed. Top with something crunchy- corn strips, pepitas, crunchy chickpeas, croutons or whatever you fancy. Enjoy!
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.