Moong Dal Recipe is a simple, healthy and protein-rich dish made with split and hulled yellow moong dal. This version shows how to make classic Moong Dal Tadka, where cooked lentils are finished with a flavorful tempering of spices in ghee or oil. It is easy to prepare and pairs well with rice or roti.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup moong dal ((split and hulled mung lentils))
  • ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • ½ cup tomatoes (- chopped)
  • 1 inch ginger (- finely chopped or minced)
  • ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (or ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper)
  • ⅓ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • 1.5 cups water (- for pressure cooking)
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons ghee (or oil or butter)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 4 to 5 garlic cloves (- small to medium-sized, crushed lightly)
  • ¼ or ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder (or ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper)
  • 1 or 2 green chilli (- slit or ½ teaspoon chopped)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing), optional)

Method

Cooking Lentils

  1. First rinse the moong lentils a couple of times in water. Drain the water and set the lentils aside.
  2. In a 3 litre stove-top pressure cooker take the rinsed lentils, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and finely chopped ginger. Also add the turmeric powder, red chili powder and water to the cooker. Mix well.
  3. Pressure cook for 5 to 6 whistles on medium flame till the moong lentils are softened well. Once the pressure settles down, remove the lid and stir the dal.
  4. If the dal looks thick, then add some water and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes.
  5. Add salt. Mix very well and keep aside. Check the taste and if required you can add more salt.

Making Yellow Moong Dal Recipe

  1. In a small pan, heat oil or ghee or butter. First fry the cumin seeds.
  2. Next add the garlic and green chili and fry for some seconds. Don't brown the garlic. Switch off the flame.
  3. Now add the garam masala powder, red chili powder and asafoetida. Switching off the flame earlier ensures that the spice powders don't get burned.
  4. Quickly stir and immediately pour the tempering mixture in the dal.
  5. Stir the dal and serve hot moong dal with steamed rice or chapatis.
  6. The moong dal tadka tastes better as it is and there is no need to garnish or add coriander leaves to it. But if you want you can always garnish with some coriander leaves. For a slight tang you can also squeeze some lemon juice.

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.