Lalla Mussa Dal
- Total Time
- About 2½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ½cup whole black gram lentils (sabut urad)
- ⅛cup whole green gram lentils (sabut moong)
- 2green chiles (such as Indian harimirch or serrano), cut into thin strips
- 11-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips
- ½cup melted unsalted butter
- ¾cup tomato purée
- 1teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, or cayenne
- 1teaspoon ground coriander
- ¾teaspoon crushed dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- 7cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½cup heavy cream
- Salt to taste
- 1½-inch piece ginger, cut into thin strips, for garnish
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
358 calories; 34 grams fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 358 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Mix together both types of lentils and rinse thoroughly in salted water. Drain, add 1 cup water and soak for 1 hour.
- Step 2
Drain lentils again, add to a small pot with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Skim the scum and dirt off the top and discard. Strain the lentils and return them to the pot. Add 1 cup water, the green chiles and ginger and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Step 3
Add ¼ cup of the butter and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring often and mashing with the back of a big spoon as the lentils soften. After about 35 minutes, melt the remaining ¼ cup butter in a deep nonstick pan; add the tomato purée and sauté on low heat until fat rises to the surface.
- Step 4
Add the red chili powder (or cayenne), ground coriander, fenugreek leaves and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to dry out and stick to the pan. Add the lentils and mix well. Add the cream and mix well. Add 1 cup water and salt to taste, and bring to a boil. Serve hot, garnished with ginger strips.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Prakash Nadkarni
This is an elaborate (not necessarily better) version of Amritsari dal. The typical recipe pressure-cooks the legumes with the water, ginger, chilies, tomato puree and clarified butter (or vegetable oil), collapsing steps 1-3 into one. Machine-blending can replace hand-mashing. Toss in salt, spices,cream and ginger at the end:separate pan-frying of the species is optional. Urad and mung beans (genus Vigna) are not lentils (genus Lens) and have a different flavor profile: both are *legumes*.
ammoman
Substituted a can of coconut milk for the heavy cream and used a Jalapeño instead of the prescribed pepper. Also used an immersion blender instead of mashing with the back of the spoon. It’s quite a forgiving and delicious dish. Excellent served with basmati rice.
NIna Palmer
Yummy, although I did not use even half as much cream and butter. YOu can taste the flavors better, I think. Pressure cooked the lentils with ginger and chilies ( I used thai chillies). Meanwhile melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and cooked the tomato, garlic and spices all at the same time on low heat until oil separated. Mixed in with lentils and a drizzle of cream, and necessary water. Returned to just boiling.
substitution
1/2 tsp curry powder substituted for Fenugreek Used only 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper Next time will only use one Serrano pepper as a bit spicy for our family
Orlynur
I did this in the instant pot using a recommendation of a previous commenter. Prepared onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, spices sauce first on sauté setting. Then removed that, heated ghee, chopped chili peppers and cumin seeds in the pot. Then added the soaking urad and mung beans along with the tomato-onion purée and cooked for 30 minutes in pressure cooker mode. Came out super delicious!!
Anne
I am sure all the suggested variations are quite good. Yet it is worth the effort to find an Indian market and get all the specific items in the recipe: the peppers, the Kashmiri red chili powder and the fenugreek leaves. When you use the actual Indian spices you will find the dish has a layer of complexity that is unique. (confession - I did use coconut milk instead of the cream, however)
Jette M.
I find that lovage, fresh from the garden or dried, is a very good substitute for the aromatic green/sotolon component of fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi). You may even need less, since lovage leaves are so intense.
Katie
I’ve made this twice. The first time, I felt it was SO much effort for something we literally consumed in one meal (four servings? Really? Only if it’s a side dish…). This time, I doubled the recipe and it’s totally worth it. Note to self for next time: mince the ginger and serranos, it’s not my preference to have the whole strips in a bite, even if softened.
liz
I used coconut milk instead of cream and I didn’t have fresh fiber so I used ground ginger. It still came out super flavorful and rich. Might go with less butter next time.
Carol
Quite nice but too greasy. I would greatly reduce the amount of butter next time.
Molly
Used cumin sub recommendation
Jeff
Made this recipe as written. Taking the time to get the exact ingredients from a local Indian market was totally worth it! A great depth of flavor!! Really loved it!
Amy
I used a little more than a quarter of a teaspoon of crushed yellow mustard seeds and curry powder instead of the fenugreek leaves. I removed most of the seeds from the two Serrano chilies. Next time, I might just use one Serrano chili.
AO
Why skim the scum and dirt off the top and discard if you strain in step 2? How long do you boil?
Prem
You can use a pressure cooker to cook legumes but to get rich creamy texture and flavor you still have to slow cook the dal for a long time. You shouldn't puree entire pot of cooked daal in the blender, just puree about 1/2 cup of dal and add it back to the pot. This will eliminate need to mash.
Rachel
This is very good, but please note that it's tomato puree, not tomato paste. I used the latter based on an initial misread and then the quantity matched the volume of a can, so I went with it. But it was very tomato-y which dominated the flavor, I had to correct other seasonings to compensate. L
Kiran starosta
I loved the recipe but I don’t think any Indian will make it this way
Kiran starosta
It was delicious, just follow the recipe After u have cooked and tasted following the recipe exactly , then you can make changes, if u want, but try it once with the chefs way !!
MameChristina
Made the lentils separately in instant pot-12 minutes high pressure, used 3 c water for double recipe. Sautéed garlic, minced ginger, minced chilies and 1/2 diced onion in 4 tsp of oil. Once soft added tomato purée and cooked with remaining spices as Priya described, adding 1/2 tsp turmeric. Skipped butter completely, and subbed in coconut milk for just the cream. From a dal hater-this is incredibly delicious-even my Punjabi husband agrees. Took less than 1 hour in total.
Blair Hoffman
Delicious. I used coconut milk instead of cream. Came out delicious!
Amber
Best dal ever. I only had one serrano chili and substituted Thai chilis for the rest. I doubled the recipe so I could use an entire can of tomatoes. I started cooking the tomato mixture right after the lentils were simmering for the 45 minute portion and cooked it down to a delicious jam (which would be good on its own). I used an immersion blender instead of mashing. So good.
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