Mixed Lentil Dal Recipe: Easy Indian Maah Choley ki Dal

🍲What is dal?

Dal (daal or dhal) is a staple Indian dish made from dried lentils, split or whole, and cooked until soft. It's an important sources of plant-based protein in Indian cuisine and is eaten daily across India with rice or roti. It's affordable, healthy and has multiple regional variations.

This Mixed Lentil Dal Recipe, also known as maah choley ki dal, is the most-requested dal at home. The beauty of this dal is in its simplicity and the earthiness of the flavors. Just like Lentil Carrot Soup, this dal can be enjoyed on its own or served with rotis or rice. If you’ve never tried a lentil dal recipe before, this is a great one!

🧾Recipe Ingredients

The backbone of this recipe is the lentils - two different kinds to be specific. It's made with an mix of two lentils flavored with aromatics like ginger, garlic and onion and warm Indian spices.

• Lentils/Dals - you will need a combination of split black gram lentils (maah ki daal) with the skin on and split Bengal gram lentils (yellow lentils/choley or chane ki daal).
• Aromatics/Veggies - onion (you can use red or white onion), ginger garlic paste, tomato, cilantro, and green chili (optional). These veggies will form the base of the flavor profile along with the spices.
• Spices - for tempering the lentils, we will make a spiced oil (or ghee). This is called "tadka". The spices that you will need include cumin seeds, coriander powder, and red chili powder (I use cayenne). Garam masala is the finishing touch of this lentil dal recipe. You can use my homemade garam masala and read more about spices in my Indian Spices post.

Don't forget to check out the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients along with the quantities.

📖Substitutions and variations

• Vegan - The lentil preparation by itself is vegan. The only non-vegan ingredient is ghee. You can easily swap it with a cooking oil of your choice like olive oil or avocado oil. This recipe is also gluten free!
• Spicy - The recipe calls for about a teaspoon of chopped serrano pepper which is optional and would make this dal medium spicy. You can choose to skip the pepper, use a jalapeno for mild spice or use a thai chili for a higher spice level.
• Lentils - You can use the same recipe to cook any whole or split lentils that have not been de-skinned like the brown lentils, whole green moong lentils, or black beluga lentils.

👩🏽‍🍳How to make this recipe

For lentils that are heartier than the usual red lentils, you will need a pressure cooker or instant pot to make this quicker. Instant pot instructions are included in recipe notes below. If making in an open pot, you will need much more water and much longer to cook the lentils.

Step 1: Mix the two lentils and rinse them with cold water 2-3 times or until the rinsed water is not cloudy anymore. Drain the lentils and add to your pressure cooker (Image 1).

Step 2: Put the pressure on high heat and add water, chopped onions, tomatoes, green chili (if using), ginger garlic paste, turmeric and salt (Image 2). Close and lock the lid. Let the cooker come to full pressure (until it "whistles") and then lower the heat to a simmer and let the lentils cook for 20 minutes. After that turn the heat off and let the pressure release naturally.

Step 3: After the pressure has released (it will take about 15 minutes), take the lid of the pressure cooker off. Your lentils should be perfectly cooked by now (Image 3).

Step 4: Set a small fry pan on medium high heat and add ghee (or oil of your choice) to it (Image 4).

Step 5: Once the ghee is melted and heated through (it will look shiny, about 20 seconds), add the cumin seeds. You will know that the ghee is hot if the cumin seeds crackle when they hit the hot ghee (Image 5).

Step 6: After the cumin seeds have toasted and are fragrant, add the coriander and red chilli powders, mix for 10-15 seconds, and turn the heat off (Image 6). This is your spiced ghee or tempering (tadka).

Step 7: Add the spiced ghee/tempering to the pressure cooker that has the cooked lentil dal (Image 7). Put the pressure cooker back on medium high heat.

Step 8: Finish this Indian lentil dal with garam masala and chopped cilantro (Image 8). Let it come to a boil and then turn the heat off.

💭Tips for this recipe

• Lentil Prep Tips - Always rinse lentils 2-3 times until water runs clear. Soaking is optional but speeds cooking (30 minutes is enough). Always use fresh lentils - old ones take forever to cook. If you do not cook with lentils regularly, store raw lentils in the freezer in a freezer bag labeled with the purchase date.
• Pressure Cooker - A pressure cooker is the quickest way to go, but if you have time and want to develop the depth of flavors over the slow cooking route – either in a crockpot or on the stove top, go for it! In that case, soaking the rinsed lentils in warm water for 30 minutes would cut down the cooking time. Don't want to buy another kitchen gadget? You can make this lentil dal recipe in an Instant pot!
• Consistency of dal - This recipe will make a thick dal, somewhere between a soup and a stew. You can thin it out by adding warm water until you reach the desired consistency. You might want to check and adjust salt after adding more water.
• Season liberally - Taste the salt as you go about cooking these lentils and do not be afraid to add more salt if needed. The spice powders in the recipe might seem a lot but trust me when I say that you want to go heavy on the aromatics and spices in this recipe to pack the flavor. All the spices are warm spices and not hot or spicy spices.

🫙Storage, Freezing, and Reheating Instructions

For leftovers or if you make a double batch recipe (highly recommended), here's how you can store or freeze them:

• Storage - you can store the leftovers in a air tight container in the refrigerator for upto 5 days.
• Freezing - you can freeze leftovers for upto 3 months. You can either put them in a freezer proof container or in a freezer safe ziptop bag. If you make a double batch, do not temper with the spiced ghee. Instead, freeze the boiled lentils and temper the lentil dal when ready to eat.
• Reheating - Reheat leftovers from the refrigerator in a microwave or in a small saucepan on medium high heat until heated through. From the freezer, let the lentils thaw and then reheat in microwave or sauce pan. If you froze the lentils without tempering, warm the thawed lentils in a sauce pan, make the tempering, add it to the lentils and bring to boil. Then finish with cilantro and garam masala.

🥘Instant Pot instructions

Add the rinsed and drained lentils, salt, turmeric, chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, and green chili (if using) into your instant pot. I have a 6-qt Instant Pot that I use for this recipe. Plug the instant pot in and set it to manual high pressure and set the timer to 20 minutes. Set the valve to sealing position. After the 20 minutes are up, let the pressure release naturally. It will take 10-15 minutes. Open the lid, set the instant pot to low saute mode. Add the spiced ghee and mix. Finish with chopped cilantro and garam masala. Turn the saute mode off as soon as the dal comes to a boil.

🍽Serving suggestions

Traditional Indian Meals:

Classic Dal-Chawal (Dal with Rice): Serve dal over cumin basmati rice with a dollop of ghee, a side of papad, pickled onions, and pickle, and yogurt or raita on the side.

Dal with Roti: Serve with whole wheat roti or chapati, add pickled onions and green chilies, and a lemon wedges on the side.

Complete Thali: Thali is a traditional meal in which you can serve this mixed dal as the star protein, rice or roti, a vegetable sabzi like aloo gobi, raita or yogurt, pickle, papad, and a side salad (kachumber).

Modern Serving Ideas:

Dal Soup Bowl: Serve dal as soup with crusty bread

❓Recipe FAQs

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