Mung Dal is a healthy and easy vegan Indian dal recipe that is the perfect fuss-free vegan main dish for a cold winter night. In this authentic Indian recipe protein-packed Mung/Moong bean dal (lentils) and split pigeon peans are cooked in the pressure cooker with warming Indian spices and a homemade chili garlic paste for some heat! Allergen Information: Free of Dairy, egg, corn, soy, yeast, nut, gluten.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 2 - 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup dried yellow mung bean (split mung bean, Mung Dal washed and soaked for at least an hour)
  • 1/4 cup dried pigeon peas (toor dal, or any split pea, washed and soaked for an hour)
  • 1.5-2 cups water (1.5 for a thicker consistency)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Tempering:

  • 2 teaspoons organic canola oil or any organic oil with high smoke point
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (Raee)
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 5-6 fresh curry leaves or 1 bay leaf
  • 1 pinch asafoetida (hing optional)
  • 1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup onion chopped
  • 1-2 Tablespoons chili garlic paste (recipe below)
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 medium tomato chopped

Method

  1. In a deep pan or pressure cooker, add oil and heat on medium
  2. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to sputter.
  3. Add asafoetida, curry leaves/bay leaf and mix. Cook for half a minute
  4. Add onions and ginger and cook until translucent.
  5. Add chili garlic paste, coriander powder and cook for a minute.
  6. Add the tomato, turmeric and cook for 2-3 minutes until tomatoes get mushy.
  7. At this point, you can add chopped up vegetables, other spices, garam masala/curry powder.
  8. Drain the lentils and add them to the pan, add salt, and water and mix well.
  9. Pressure cook for 1-2 whistle or cook covered on low for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are tender and mushy.
  10. Adjust salt, spices and water for consistency. Bring to a boil and serve.
  11. Serve hot topped with chopped cilantro leaves or red chili flakes, with Roti-Indian flatbread, Rice, dry veggie subzis or as a soup with garlic bread/pita/Naan.

Chili Garlic paste:

  1. Soak a whole dry red chili pepper in warm water for 10 minutes.
  2. With a mortar and pestle, pound 5-6 cloves of garlic with the soaked chili and a few drops of vinegar.
  3. You can also use red chili powder and make a bigger batch in a food processor.

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.