Split Yellow Mung Dal
Super simple and quick split Yellow Mung Dal that is made with minimal ingredients to bring you a whole lot of comfort quickly.
Colder months call for warm comforting soups and stews. Being an Indian, I crave all different types of dal during this time of the year. I love me a quick comforting meal on busy weekdays. Meals that comes together quickly but still holds lot of flavors and comfort. This Split Yellow Mung Dal truly checks all those boxes.
Growing up I would see my baa make all different types of legumes on colder evenings for dinner. This Split Yellow Mung Dal being one of the top ones! And I think the reason is that this dal cooks fast and requires very minimal basic ingredients. This pantry friendly recipe is wholesome and nutritious. I like to eat it like stew with a dollop of greek yogurt while my family serves it with Bhakhri, onion and papad. It also pairs really well with plain steamed rice.
This Split Yellow Mung Dal comes together in less than 30 minutes. Simply requires garlic, ginger, chili and dry spices. Simply simmer it all together and add in quick tadka. There you have it, a super simple comforting dal ready within minutes. The key to good dal is getting the right texture. I personally do not like over cooked thick mushy dal, nor do I like watered down dal. To some it might seem a bit nitpicky but trust me on this one and follow the instruction to the T to get the best results.
Call me a dal snob and thank me later. There are plenty of dal recipes on my blog that will bring you that much needed comfort with the best flavors. If you are to make this dal, leave me a comment below or reach out to me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots to share your feedback. I would love to hear you thoughts on this or any recipe of mine!
Split Yellow Mung Dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Split Yellow Mung Dal
- 1½ tsp Salt if not adding sugar use 1¼ tsp salt instead of 1½
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder heaping teaspoon
- 4 large Garlic Cloves, sliced
- 1 tsp Grated Ginger
- 2 tsp Very Finely Chopped Thai Green Chili best if processed in food processor
- ¼ tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil any oil with high smoke point like peanut oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- ¼ tsp Hing/Asafetida
- ½ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro
- 3 cup Water additional ⅓ cup if needed
- ½ tsp Sugra optional, if not adding sugar use 1¼ tsp salt instead of 1½
Instructions
- Wash and soak split yellow mung dal for at least 30 minutes in the pot you are goin got cook the dal in. Once soaked, get rid of all the water and add in 3 cups of water. Warm tap water would be best. I do not like to use pressure cooker/IP for this dal, I prefer cooking it in a stove top pot.
- Add in ½ tsp (¼ tsp if not adding sugar) of salt, ¼ tsp of turmeric powder and 4 large sliced garlic cloves. Bring it to boil.
- Once boiling, bring the heat to medium and keep boiling for 12-15 minutes. Be sure to stir frequently during boiling step to ensure of even cooking of dal.
- Once the water is reduced to half the amount and dal becomes almost twice in amount, add in another 1 tsp of salt, grated ginger, finely chopped thai green chili, red chili powder, cumin coriander powder and sugar. Stir very well, cover and cook more until the dal cooks to grainy consistency.
- The water should be almost cooked away while dal amount doubles, giving a stew like consistency. Bring the heat to low, take some dal in a spoon and press it to ensure the cooking of dal through out while it still holds subtle crunch.
- In a small sauce pan heat up 2 tbsp of oil, once hot add in 1 tsp of mustard seeds and wait until they pop. Once all of them pops, add in ¼ tsp of Hing/Asafetida and immediately add that tempering (tadka) into the cooked dal. Stir well.
- Cover it while keeping the heat on low just for a minute or two. Turn the heat off, garnish it with finely chopped cilantro.
- Simply serve it with plain green yogurt, bhakhri, onions and papad. It pairs well with plain rice as well. My family mixes yogurt into the dal once it is served, however you can serve the yogurt on side. I personally like to add small amount of greek yogurt in my dal and eat it like stew!