In India’s many regional cuisines, each ingredient plays an important and intricate role in creating the complexity of any given dish. Take dal, for instance. There are tens of thousands of ways to make a dal, and the diversity of flavor in each dal recipe begins, at the most basic level, with the type of lentil you use. Most Indian cooks have a dozen or so lentils in their pantry at any time, give or take a couple, each with a distinct flavor and texture. But the legumes you’ll find featured most commonly in dal recipes (apart from beans) are chana dal (Bengal gram dal), tuvar dal (pigeon peas or yellow split peas), masoor dal (pink lentils), urad dal (black lentils) and moong dal (green gram dal). Certain regions have a stronger preference for certain lentils. For instance:
In Maharashtra, the state where I grew up, we’d usually make our dals with toor dal or tuvar dal (here’s a quickie and delicious dal recipe I make on the fly for dinner). Bengalis tend to use chana dal more frequently, in recipes like the delicious Cholar Dal. Tamilians use moong dal, masoor dal and tuvar dal to vary the flavors and textures in the family of south Indian dals called sambar and kootu, and urad dal in idli and dosa. North Indians use urad dal to make Dal Makhani and Maa ki Dal.
For the Spicy Urad Dal or Black Lentil Dal recipe I am sharing with you today I, of course, used urad dal (vigna mungo). Think of this urad dal recipe as a quickie version of vegan dal makhani, but just as tasty. The urad dal is combined with herbs and warm garam masala spices, and you smooth out all the flavors at the end with a dollop of vegan butter. I like blending half the cooked dal before I add it to the pot, because it makes the dal really creamy. You can skip this step, or just use the ladle to mash up some of the dal.
Serve
This spicy urad dal is delicious with brown rice, basmati rice, or jeera rice. Serve a simple Indian style stir-fry or sabzi, like Bombay potatoes or cabbage curry on the side. Check to get new recipe updates by email.
You can also serve the dal with roti or vegan naan.
More vegan dal recipes
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