Whole Green lentils (whole green mung dal) with cilantro and mint.
I was a picky eater growing up. The only lentil dish I would eat was maa ki dal – a lighter version of the popular dal makhani. My mom tried her best to make me eat more varieties but I just wouldn’t. She had a tough time cooking for me – rajma chawal, aloo parantha, ande ki bhurji (indian scrambled eggs), bhindi
(okra), dal makhani, cholle bhature made 90% of my Indian food diet. Anything else generally met with a lot of resistance.
So while I have been experimental with my cooking and baking, I have been pretty restrictive with Indian cooking, focusing mainly on stuff that I have grown up eating. The only lentils I generally cook are urad saboot (whole unskinned black lentils that I use in my dal makhani recipe) and toovar dal (yellow pigeon pea). Toovar dal only made an appearance in my diet post marriage since V, being from UP, is a big fan of it.
When my mom was here she used the other lentils that were in my pantry and made different dals for us and both of us really enjoyed. And I realized I should start including them in our diet more.
The other day when I was menu planning, I came across this recipe for whole green lentils with cilantro and mint in Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian cooking . Although not the most attractive looking dish, it definitely is tasty and a perfect healthy side for your indian meals. You can also make it a little more watery and have it as a lentil soup. I served it with indian flat breads and my favorite achaari paneer recipe.
I loved the flavor that the mint gave to this lentil dish. This dal is perfect as a side with naan or indian flat bread. The original recipe calls for a pressure cooker and even though I have one I just cooked this in a saucepan, to avoid cleaning the pressure cooker.
A lot of lentil dishes use asafoetida/hing in their cooking. A pinch of asafoetida is enough to impart that special flavor an indian dish needs. Asafoetida has a very distinct flavor- some people associate it to aged garlic, but I just think it has its own flavor that can not be compared to any other. It might not smell pleasant if you take a whiff off it in its packaging, but once it hits hot oil or ghee, just a small pinch will make your house smell of Indian cooking. For most indian dishes that use this spice, its the first spice that is added in the recipe. You can easily find asafoetida in Indian grocery stores and the smallest container will last you pretty long enough, so no need to go for any big packaging.
Besides adding another layer of flavor to your indian dish, asafoetida also helps aid digestion and prevents gas. A pinch in pulses, beans, lentils helps combat the flatulence nature such dishes carry with them.
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- pinch asafetida
- 2-3 dried hot red chillies
- 1 small onion, sliced and cut into half rings
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 1 tomato, finely chopped
- 1 cup whole green lentils (whole green mung dal)
- salt, to taste
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ cup cilantro or coriander
- ½ cup fresh mint
- Wash the lentils well. Let soak in some warm water for an hour.
- In a saucepan, or pressure cooker, heat some oil or ghee over medium high heat.
- Once hot, add the asafoetida, let sizzle for a few seconds.
- Add in the cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let the mustard seeds splutter.
- Add in the red chillies and saute for a few seconds.
- Add in the onions, garlic and tomatoes.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes till the onions brown a bit.
- Add in the lentils and 3.5 cups (4¼ cups if cooking in the saucepan), along with the salt, ground coriander, cilantro and mint.
- Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Cover, and let cook for 50-60 minutes in the saucepan till the lentils are tender. If using the pressure cooker, bring to a whistle and then lower heat and cook for 15 minutes more. Take off heat.
i love daal in general..and i will definitely have to try it with mint (now that my patio mint is finally thriving). im so with you on cleaning the pressure cooker, so this will be great option.
You must and a perfect way to use mint that grows like a weed!
I have always been a big dal fan … but that paneer is making me lust after it! Such a lovely meal.
Meeta recently posted..Spice Infusions 3 | Chillies
I love that paneer recipe too, Meeta 🙂
I’m always looking for great daal recipes. No such thing as too much! Thanks for sharing!
I agree, no such thing as too much. Thanks for dropping by 🙂
I love Dal and our kerala cuisine use whole mung a lot. I am new to the whole urad black lentil and got to know about just recently when I wanted to find out how Dal Makhani was made 😛 This recipe is so simple and flavourful with mint and garlic! I would still use my pressure cooker to save on lpg. Most of the time I just add everything to the pressure cooker and do a tadka at the end! I just read about Madhur Jaffery yesterday and here I am reading again about her.. hmmmm. Love the close up picture!
Well you are right, pressure cooker saves up on gas/electricity. Maybe I should look past my hatred of cleaning pressure cooker. I als generally add the tadka at the end, so this recipe sounded intriguing- with the tadka done in the beginning your work is done. Thanks for appreciating the pictures 🙂