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Sabut masoor ki daal. How to make Sabut Masoor , Whole Masoor ki Dal. Brown Lentil Soup with Indian spices. Easy weeknight dal. Pressure cook or cook in saucepan.
Mom’s Dals always taste a bit different that mine. Even if we both make the exact same measurement recipe. This summer when Mom was visiting, I watched her like a hawk to figure out what gives. Mom always cooks with leisure and love. Everything will be cooked just the right amount that she likes, no hurry, no burning, simmered instead of high heat cooking and kept simple with just a few spices. So today I have a Lentil Dal (Sabut Masoor) recipe we both make almost the same way. This is Mom’s version that is cooked with leisure, each step gets as much attention and love and the lentils are cooked till they are soft and easily dissolve. Some of the lentils dissolve into the soup to make a thick creamy dal. Try this with brown lentils, Indian brown (whole red, Sabut Masoor) or other lentils. For Indian Dals, mushy lentils are the preferred dal consistency. Cook a few minutes less to preferred cooked lentil texture.
Serve as is like a soup or with flatbread or rice. Pictured with Gobi Aloo Mutter – Spiced Cauliflower Potatoes peas. Lentil Dals are comfort food for me. Warming, earthy, flavorful and filling. This is a simple flavorful Dal. Change up the spices for variation. Add some veggies in while cooking. Let me know if you try this easy Dal.
More Dals and Soups from the blog. And there 25+ options in my book.
- Restaurant Style Dal Fry
- Easy Chana Dal Recipe. Split Chickpea Soup
- Kashmiri Dal – Split Pea & Yellow Lentil Soup
- Dal Tadka Mix in a Jar. Pink Lentil soup in a Jar.
- Oil free Lentil Soup. Spicy Garlic Dal
Sabut Masoor Ki Daal - Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup lentils, wash and soak for atleast half an hour
- 1 tsp oil
- 3/4 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Black mustard seeds
- a generous pinch of asafetida, omit to make gluten-free
- 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 1 to 2 hot green chilies, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup onion finely chopped, about 1/2 of a large onion
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne, or add later to preference
- 1 large tomato, chopped small
- 3/4 to 1 tsp salt or to preference
- 2.5 cups water
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker or a saucepan, add oil and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let the mustard seeds begin to pop. Depending on the pan and stove it can take 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the asafetida and mix in. Add garlic, ginger, chili and onions and mix. Cook for a minute. Add a pinch of salt and mix in, reduce heat to low-medium and continue to cook until the onions and garlic are golden brown. Stir occasionally. Lower the heat if the onions start to brown too quickly. All of the onion and garlic should get golden, and the onion pieces will reduce in size. a patient 8 to 9 minutes.
- Add in the ground spices and mix in. Cook for 15 seconds. Add the tomatoes and a splash of water. Cover, increase heat to medium and cook until the tomatoes are saucy. 6 to 7 minutes. Stir once and mash the larger pieces.
- Drain the lentils that have been soaking, and add to the pan. Add water and salt and mix in.
- Pressure Cook/Instant pot: Close the lid and cook for 12 to 13 minutes at high pressure. ( 2 whistles over high heat, them simmer for 10 minutes over low heat). This will make mushy lentils.
- Saucepan: Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Richa,
Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’ve never made daal before and wasn’t sure if I was tempering the spices correctly, but it came out so tasty! I’m ready to try more of your recipes! Thank you!
yay! so glad you enjoyed!
Hi Richa, thank you for sharing this recipe! If we’re making this in an Instant Pot should we quickly release the pressure after 12-13 minutes of cooking or allow for natural pressure release? Thanks!
Natural release
Thank you! It came out amaaaazing. I had a strong craving for daal but I had never made it before and my mom is in India for the next few weeks. This totally hit the spot 🙂
awwww that’s sweet – maybe she’ll like it upon her return
hi I am unsure which lentils to buy for this, please could you tell me thank you so much
Brown or green lentils
This is my favorite recipe for sabut masoor dal. It always turns out great and is super delicious.
yay!
Hi Richa,
Thanks for all the info. We’ve recently ‘gone’ vegan and are finding your website a boon! However, we live in France and are having trouble translating some of the lentils into what we see on the shelves. We’ve obviously got to grips with red lentils (lentille corail) and I’m making this recipe with ‘lentilles blondes’ today. The French have their lentilles de Puy, which are green, do these correspond to anything you know?
Anyway, early days. Any help would be appreciated. I’ll continue to research, happy to post anything interesting.
Thanks again for the great website… will buy your book next UK visit.
See my Indian Dals page for pictures and corresponding English names. You can generally use green lentils as a sub for brown. https://www.veganricha.com/indian-dals-names
This has to be one of my favorite recipes that I’ve made of yours. I doubled the batch, and now I wish I’d tripled it. Next time . . .
Thank you mother for the wisdom behind the recipe. It’s love in every spoonful.
Thanks! <3
Hey richa,
Love your recipes and they have all turned out great for me so far. I did try this one with aloo gobi mutter and also punjab dal fry on the weekend though and they came out a bit bland im trying to work out where I went wrong. The cooking times tended to be longer then prescribed but other then that I read and followed the recipies carefully. The seeds and spices always smell amazing when putting them in but the end result isnt there. I taste as I go but I often found myself at a loss as to what to add. Any advice would be greatly appreciated keep up the great work.
It could be the cooking time. Whole spices have be tempered well for them to release the flavor into the oil and which then infuses the food. When the oil is not hot or the spices are not cooked long enough they stay somewhat raw and add less flavor to the dish. You might get some bursts of flavor when you get the seeds, but otherwise not. You want them to sizzle and pop. It could be salt. The right amount of salt brings out the flavors a lot. They can go from subtle to intense. Add more if needed. It also could be just an expectation difference. Everyday Indian food is simple with simple flavors while celebratory food or restaurant style sauces and curries and complex flavored and meant to be rich and extra flavorful. I grew up with these simple flavors and appreciate the balance there which just about enhances the overall dal. But for someone who is not eating indian food every day, the expectation might be for a bigger flavor payoff. For that, add more of the whole spices and finish the dal in the end with some fresh garam masala, some vegan butter, some cayenne or smoked paprika. Hope this helps.
Richa, I made both the Sabut Masoor in my pressure cooker as well as the Gobi Aloo Mutter – it was by far the best Indian food I’ve made at home so far. Thanks for your wonderful recipes! Can’t wait to buy your book 🙂
Awesome!