Moong dal is the most basic lentil dish made with yellow moong lentils, tomatoes & spices. This moong dal recipe will give you delicious & healthy dish that you can enjoy with plain rice, roti, Paratha, naan or even with any flavored rice like Jeera rice, basmati rice or Ghee rice. We usually serve moong dal with rice. Along with pickle, papad & raita it makes a complete meal.
If you have kids or folks at home who do not like moong dal then this recipe is a must try for them as the taste of this is unique and delicious.
This healthy moong dal can also be served to toddlers & babies after 10 months, just minus chilies.
Moong dal is one of the most favored dal or lentils in Indian cuisine as it is easily digestible. Mung beans or moong dal is said to be tridoshic & can balance any disturbances in the body.
Hence it is used to make various dishes like Dal khichdi, dal soup, and Moong dosa. If you are new to lentils then do note that yellow moong dal is split & dehusked green gram or mung beans. These are fairly quick to cook and gentle on the stomach.
Tips to make moong dal
- Most Indian homes do own a pressure cooker so I have shown this recipe making in the same. If you do not own one, then you can just cook the moong dal in a pot or instant pot. I have given the instructions for instant pot as well below.
- You can also make this as a one pot dish. Again it can be made in a cooker or pot. All you need to do is just do the tempering first & then just add the dal and water. Cover & pressure cook.
- We usually do not make very hot & spicy lentils as the original flavor of lentils is lost. However if you love spicy foods, then feel free to double the amount of spices like red chilli powder & garam masala.
- If you are not accessible to curry leaves just replace with bay leaf.
- To make the dish healthier, I usually add some spinach and carrots. I pressure cook the carrots with the moong dal. Then I saute the spinach in the tempering pan until it wilts. Then add the cooked moong dal.
More Dal recipes
Chana dal
Masoor dal
Dal makhani
Dal fry recipe
Moong dal recipe
Moong dal recipe (Stovetop & instant pot)
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients to cook moong dal
- ½ cup moong dal (or skinned split green gram)
- 1 ½ cups water (same for IP)
Tempering ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil (or ghee or butter)
- 1 red chili (broken )
- ½ tsp cumin (or jeera)
- ¼ to ½ tsp mustard (optional)
- 1 Pinch asafoetida or hing (skip if you don’t have)
- 1 sprig curry leaves or bay leaf (optional)
- 1 to 2 green chilies chopped (use as needed)
- 1 tsp ginger garlic chopped or crushed (or ½ tsp ginger & ½ garlic)
Spice powders for moong dal
- 1/8 tsp turmeric or haldi
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder (optional)
- 1/8 tsp garam masala (optional)
Other ingredients
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 large tomato chopped or pureed
- Salt as needed
- ½ tsp crushed kasuri methi or dry fenugreek leaves (optional)
- ¼ to ¾ cup water (more or less for consistency) (skip for IP)
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves (or cilantro finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (or ½ tsp amchur or dry mango powder) as needed
How to make the recipe
- Rinse moong dal thrice in a pot or pressure cooker with ample amount of water.
How to cook moong dal – Stovetop
- Drain the water completely. Pour 1½ cups water and cook on a medium heat until soft.
- If cooking in pressure cooker allow to whistle twice or thrice. If cooking in a instant pot – Place the bowl inside the instant pot, secure the lid & cook for 10 mins on a high pressure.
- If you like smooth & creamy dal then mash the moong dal well.
Tempering moong dal
- Pour ghee or oil to a hot pan. Add mustard, cumin & red chili. Let them pop.
- Next add green chilies, ginger garlic & curry leaves. Fry until a nice flavor comes out.
- Then fry onions until transparent. Next fry tomatoes until soft & mushy.
- Add turmeric, salt, if desired garam masala and chilli powder (optional). Saute for a min until aromatic.
- Transfer cooked moong dal. Then pour water if needed to bring the dal to a desired consistency.
- Dal is usually made to a thick but of pouring consistency.
- Stir and cook till it begins to bubble. Optional – Add kasuri methi and amchur if using. Stir and switch off.
- Squeeze in some lemon juice when the moong dal cools down a bit. Serve moong dal with rice, roti or any Indian bread.
Instant pot moong dal
- Press the saute button on your Instant pot.
- Pour ghee or oil to the inner pot.
- Add cumin. mustard and curry leaves or bay leaf.
- When they splutter, add the onions and chilies.
- Fry for about 2 mins until the onions turn transparent.
- Then add in ginger, garlic, red chili powder, garam masala and turmeric.
- Give a quick stir.
- Add in tomatoes, salt, rinsed dal and pour 1½ cups water.
- Deglaze the inner pot by scrubbing with a spatula to release any bits of food stuck.
- optional – Place a trivet and place your rice bowl.
- Secure the lid of IP. Position the steam release handle to sealing.
- Press the pressure cook button and set the timer to 6 mins.
- When the Ip is done, press cancel and switch off.
- Release the pressure manually. – With the help of a spoon, gently move the steam release handle from sealing to venting. This releases the steam.
- Sprinkle kasuri methi over the dal and mash it if you like smooth moong dal.
- Garnish moong dal with coriander leaves and squeeze in lemon juice.
NUTRITION
Notes
This recipe can also be made with whole green gram or whole mung beans. Soak them for at least 4 hours before cooking. If cooking rice and dal together in instant pot, use only basmati rice.
Instant pot moong dal recipe
Most often I prefer to cook dal & rice in 2 separate bowls at one time in the instant pot. Here is how I make moong dal in instant pot following these 2 methods. I have shared the first method above.
Second method is to follow the same recipe as mentioned in the recipe card. You will just cook the dal in the instant pot using the pot-in-pot method.
For that, place the dal bowl at the bottom of the inner pot. Then place the rice bowl on top & cover it. I use short grain rice. Secure the lid with the steam release handle set to sealing position.
Pressure cook for 9 mins. Allow the pressure to release naturally. Then follow the tempering as mentioned in the recipe card.
Preparation for stovetop method
1. Rinse ½ cup dal few times until the water runs clear. Cook with 1½ cups water till soft.
2. It can be cooked in a pressure cooker for one to 2 whistles on a medium flame. When the pressure goes off, open the cooker and mash it to smooth if you like.
3. Heat ghee or oil in a pan, saute mustard, cumin and red chilies.
Tempering
4. When the mustard begin to splutter, add grated ginger garlic and slit or chopped green chili. You can also add curry leaves if you have as it lends a good aroma and is healthy too.
5. When the raw smell of ginger garlic goes off, add a pinch of hing and then chopped onions.
6. When the onions turn lightly pink, add chopped tomatoes. Fry until they turn soft and raw smell disappears.
7. Add turmeric and salt. You can also saute further until tomatoes turn very soft and mushy. You can also add half tsp chili powder and 2 pinches of garam masala if you like.
How to moong dal
8. Add ¾ cup water.
9. Add mashed dal. Stir and bring everything to a boil.
10. Add crushed kasuri methi and amchur powder. Kasuri methi can be replaced with coriander leaves, but the flavor turns out different. If you do not have amchur powder, add lemon juice just before serving. Add more salt if needed.
Serve moong dal fry with plain rice, jeera rice or paratha.
Virginia Lee says
I am thankful for your blog and tried the moong dal and it turned out delicious! I appreciate especially how you make certain ingredients optional so we add if we have but aren’t deterred if we don’t! Plus, you explain what words mean (ex. jeera is cumin) and that is super helpful! Thank you for sharing!
swasthi says
Hi Virginia Lee,
You are welcome. Glad you like the recipes. Thank you so much for trying!
🙂
susan says
so happy to have found you. I don’t cook but just made your dal recipe absolutely delicious !
now to clean kitchen and all the mess i made but recipe results worth the mess !
Thank you !
swasthi says
Hi Susan,
You are welcome. Glad your dal turned out delicious. Thank you!
Til Glisson says
Planning to make Moong Dal. The recipe calls for “ginger garlic.” What is ginger garlic?
The instructions for tempering call (step 7) call for amchur without specifying an amount and it is not given in the list of ingredients.
Can you provide clarifications?
Thanks.
swasthi says
Hi Til Glisson,
Ginger garlic is ginger and garlic – half tsp each in crushed or chopped form.
I have updated them for clarity. It is 1/2 tsp amchur. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Mahima Donakanty says
Thank you for the lovely recipes
swasthi says
Welcome Mahima
Shweta says
Swathi
I tried this recipe this morning. I used lemon juice instead of amchur
The dal is exceptional. It is so nurturing and delicious.
Thank you for this blog and your generous sharing.
I also tried the yellow mong dal Dosa and they are also too tasty.
swasthi says
Welcome Shweta
Thanks for trying the recipes. lemon juice tastes so good in any dal. Glad to know the recipes turned out well.
🙂
Sumi Thomas says
Dear Swasthi,
Thankyou for your wonderful food blog.I have cooked your recipes.You have explained so well with pictorial presentations.Keep up the good work…Thanks a ton once again.
Tarun says
Very yummy daal
swasthi says
Thank you
Lisa says
Yummy. Very very delicious moong dal. Thank you so much.
swasthi says
Welcome Lisa
Shewtha says
Yummy
swasthi says
Thank you
Danielle Raso says
Very good! Served with beans curry and spinach rice. Did not have some of these ingredients (hing.. mango powder), but still so good without. Added a little lime to brighten it up. It would be helpful to me if you told me what consistency to cook the dal to next time. I think I did it right but haven’t cooked green moong dal before and its very easy to both overdo and under-do 🙂
Thanks!
swasthi says
You are welcome Danielle Raso,
Thanks a lot for the comment. The consistency of the dal is a personal choice. I make it very smooth, creamy and thick but of pouring consistency. But this consistency will turn too thick when it cools down completely. For serving later it is good to make it slightly runny.
Green moong dal tastes good if cooked to a thick, grainy consistency(just cooked) and not mushy.It usually needs less water.
I will update the post with the details of consistency.
Thanks again.
Phil says
Absolutely delicious. I’ve tried about 10 of your recipes and they’re all outstanding. Thank you so much for sharing and photographing each step which makes it really easy to follow. Greetings from Germany!
swasthi says
Hello Phil,
You are welcome.
Glad to know the recipes have been useful.
Thanks for trying.
Rani says
Hi there! Just checking…in step 9, when you add the mashed dhall, is the white ingredient on top yogurt?
Thanks.
swasthi says
Welcome Rani
That’s just the mashed moong dal. There is no yogurt used. Usually organic and aged moong dal turns very light in color. It was very soft cooked as we like it smooth.
Dipesh Kataria says
This is excellent!
Supriya Pujari says
Hello.
I have been accessing your recipes regularly.
They are simple..easy to follow….and the dishes turn out very delicious.
Thank you for sharing your recipes,,,???
Johanna says
Delicious. Here in Germany I cannot get fresh curry leaves, but used dried ones instead. That also worked fine. Love your blog.
swasthi says
Thanks Johanna
Glad to know dal turned out good.
Swapna says
Excellent dishes
swasthi says
Thanks Swapna
Megha says
Absolutely loved the flavours..!
swasthi says
Thanks Megha
tabassum says
I like all recepie really very easy to cook thanks
swasthi says
welcome Tabassum
Najma says
Tried it first time. Delicious thank you. Ur recipes r too good
swasthi says
Welcome Najma
Happy to know you liked the recipes. Thank you
Sahiba says
Your receipts are just awesome
swasthi says
Thanks Sahiba
Saniya says
So simple and easy. Delicious love ur recipes
swasthi says
Thanks Saniya