Dry Moong Dal

Dry Moong dal is a delicious tangy lentil recipe that can be eaten as breakfast or evening snack. The dish is not only tasty but nutritious too. It is also called Sookhi Moong Dal or Moong Dal chaat. Some people even prefer to eat it with parathas.

Yellow Moong Dal is made by skinning and splitting whole green moong grains. Yellow Moong Dal is quite healthy. It is extremely light on stomach and hence easy to digest. It is a great source of proteins especially for vegetarians. It also takes less time for cooking.

Dry Moong dal is a fat-free and protein enriched breakfast option. It does not require much preparation/cooking time. It can be boiled in advance and seasoned/garnished at the time of serving. It can be given in kids tiffin also (just omit the green chillies or spices). I even make this dry moong dal whenever I am in a mood for a light dinner and bored by my usual salads.

I have used green chillies, tomatoes and mint leaves for garnishing. You can use onions and coriander also. The charm of the recipe is that each moong dal grain should be separate and not sticky at all. The dal should be soft, tender and at the same time not mushy. The spices in the recipe can be adjusted as per your choice.

Hope you would like this simple Dry Moong Dal recipe!!

List Of Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

• Soaked Moong Dal- 2 cups
• Cooking Oil/Ghee-1 & 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds (Jeera) – 2 tsp
• Asafoetida (Heeng)- A pinch
• Water-2 cups
• Turmeric Powder-1/4 tsp
• Salt-1 & 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
• Lemon Juice- 2 tsp
• Chopped Tomatoes-1/4 cup
• Chopped Green chillies-2
• Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
• Chopped coriander/Mint-For garnishing

Steps To Prepare:

Step1:

Wash the Moong dal thoroughly. I always soak the lentils before cooking. Here I have soaked Moong dal for 2 hours before cooking. If you are in hurry, you can skip the soaking part.

Step2:

Heat oil or ghee in pan. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida to it. Wait for few seconds till the cumin seeds starts to crackle and change colour.

Step3:

Add water, moong dal, salt and turmeric to the above pan. Stir gently. Let the water come on boil.

If some froth comes on top, remove it gently from the surface.

Step4:

Once the water starts boiling, Partially cover the pan with the lid and simmer the flame.  Let the dal cook like this for 25-30 minutes till almost all the water is evaporated.

Step5:

Cover the lid for next 2-3 minutes and let the dal further cook on low flame. Switch off the flame but let the dal be covered with lid for next 10 minutes more.

Step6:

Open the lid and gently stir it with a spatula. Every grain of dal should be separate and not sticky at all.

At the time of serving, sprinkle lemon juice and garam masala over it. Garnish with freshly chopped tomatoes, green chillies and coriander/mint.