Lehsuni Moong Dal [Garlicky Green Lentils]

Lehsuni Moong Dal is light, delicious, and packed with flavor. Nutritious and flavorful, this daal tadka is quick & easy, perfect for lazy weekends or busy weekdays. This recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

LEHSUNI MOONG DAL [GARLICKY GREEN LENTILS]

Lehsuni moong dal is a comforting, healthy, and delicious lentil recipe from Sindhi, Indian cuisine. It is quick, easy, and full of nutrition! It’s light but still filling.

This is one of my go-to dal recipes. It’s quick & easy, perfect for a lazy weekend or busy weekdays. Nutritious and flavorful dal is made with just a handful of ingredients and requires very minimal prep work.

Growing up, I remember my mom used to make this lehsuni moong dal and Makhani Moong Dal quite often. Especially, during winters we enjoyed this dal with a drizzle of ghee, some ragi or jowar roti, arbi tuk (smashed taro roots seasoned with Indian spices), and some gud (jaggery). Ah so heavenly!

A pure comfort food, quick and easy with just a few basic ingredients. This dal is rich in protein, iron & fiber.

Sometimes, I also add some greens, like palak (spinach), methi leaves (fresh fenugreek leaves), or suva bhaji (fresh dill). It just adds so much flavor and nutrition to this simple dal.

This dal is perfect for batch cooking. I usually, double the recipe and freeze some. It freezes really well.

Why You’ll Love This Lehsuni Moong Dal

-simple, comforting, and a quick recipe

-made with easily available ingredients

-creamy texture without adding any cream.

-very light and easy to digest

-packed with protein, fiber, and iron

Pic Shown: Lehsuni Moong Dal

INGREDIENTS FOR LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

Lentils – I used moong dal chilka (split moong dal with husk) and dhuli urad dal (split Matpe beans). I took a 3:1 ratio of moong dal to urad dal. Urad dal gives a nice creamy texture to the dal.

Veggies – I used fresh tomatoes, ginger, Thai green chili, and lots of garlic. Add garlic as much or as little to your liking. We love garlic, so I used an entire bulb of it.

Spices – Common Indian spices, like turmeric powder, red chili powder, amchur powder, and asafetida.

Oil – My mom uses ghee for tempering the dal. I have used canola oil to keep this recipe vegan. Any neutral oil, such as peanut oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil works fine. If not vegan, you can use ghee for tempering.

Lemon – I added some freshly squeezed lemon juice just before serving. You can use lime or lemon, or simply add more amchur powder to taste. 

HOW TO COOK LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

You can cook lehsuni moong dal in an Instant Pot, stovetop pressure cooker or on a stove. Today, I am sharing Instant Pot and stovetop pressure cooker methods in this blog post.

Note: You can make this dal on a stove. It takes little longer to cook as compared to the pressure cooker. 

INSTANT POT LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

Wash and rinse the dal a few times and then soak in water for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop tomatoes, ginger, green chili, and minced garlic. Set it aside.

After 15 minutes, drain the dal and add it to the inner pot. Add tomatoes, ginger, green chili, garlic, turmeric, oil, and salt to taste.

Add water and close the lid with a vent on sealing. Turn ON PRESSURE COOK (high) for 5 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.

PREPARE THE TEMPERING

Heat oil in a tadka pan or small pan over medium heat. Once the oil is moderately hot, add minced garlic, whole red chili broken into two pieces, and a pinch of asafetida. Fry garlic till light golden brown, do not burn the garlic. Turn OFF the heat. Add red chili powder, and immediately pour this tempering over the dal.

Turn ON SAUTE and bring dal to a gentle boil. Mix well.

Garnish with a handful of fresh cilantro and some freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional).

Serve lehsuni moong dal hot with some roti, paratha, naan, or rice.

STOVETOP PRESSURE COOKER LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

Follow the recipe as discussed. Close the pressure cooker, after the first whistle, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 5 minutes. Let pressure release naturally. The rest of the recipe is the same as Instant pot.

Pic Shown: Lehsuni Moong Dal

VARIATIONS TO THIS LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

This dal tastes amazing as it is. You can add veggies of your choice to make it even more healthy. Or for a change add a different tempering. Here are some of the variations that we like:

Add veggies such as peas, carrots, corn, and green beans. Since these veggies do not take long to cook, you can add these while pressure cooking the dal itself.

I also like to add some leafy vegetables such as spinach, and a handful of methi (fenugreek) leaves. Greens add so much flavor to the dish.

I add spinach after the dal is pressure cooked to preserve its green color and nutritional value.

For methi leaves, while preparing the tempering, I add roughly chopped methi leaves and sauté them for 1-2 minutes, and then add the tempering to the dal.

Add green onions or green garlic to the tempering. These add yet another level of flavor to this simple dal.

Fresh garlic gives a nice warm flavor to this dal. I like to add lots of fresh garlic to the tempering for a garlicky flavor.

TIPS FOR DELICIOUS LEHSUNI MOONG DAL [GARLICKY GREEN LENTILS]

Soaking the moong dal is not required. However, I prefer to soak the lentils for around 15-20 minutes, which helps remove any impurities. The time it takes me to prep the rest of the ingredients.

The quality of the lentils and the water used for cooking also affects the cooking time. Please use timing as a guideline, and adjust the cooking time as needed.

Dried mango powder adds a hint of tanginess to the dahl. You can also use some fresh lemon or lime juice instead, works just fine.

This dal thickens over some time. Add some water to adjust the consistency of the dal.

Do not skip the tempering. Tempering or tadka gives soul to this dish. Since this dal does not require a lot of ingredients, it gets most of the flavors from the tempering. You can add spices as per taste.

Pic Shown: Lehsuni Moong Dal

FAQ’s

WHAT IS GREEN MOONG DAL

Green Moong dal, also known as Moong, mung beans, or whole moong. There are three varieties of green moong dal. Sabut Moong Dal (whole mung beans), moong dal chilka (split mung beans lentils with husk), and dhuli moong dal (mung beans lentils without husk or yellow petite lentil).

The recipe I am sharing today is for chilke wali dal (split mung beans lentils).

DO I NEED TO SOAK MOONG DAL

Moong dal chilka is very easy to prepare and doesn’t require any long soaking time. It is a quick and easy dal that you can make instantly.

I soak the lentils for 15-20 minutes, while I do the prep for the dal. Once I have done the prep, I simply add everything to the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker and cook the dal. In less than 30 minutes, you can enjoy this nutritious dal.

CAN I MAKE LEHSUNI MOONG DAL IN AN OPEN POT

Yes, you can cook this dal in an open pot, it will just take slightly longer to cook.

Follow the recipe as discussed earlier, and add 1/2 – 3/4 cups of water. Bring the dal to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the dal is soft.

CAN I DOUBLE THIS RECIPE

Yes, you can double this recipe. However, the pressure cooking time remains the same.

HOW TO STORE LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

Lehsuni moong dal stays fresh for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. This dal thickens over some time. Add some water to adjust the consistency of the dal.

CAN I FREEZE LEHSUNI MOONG DAL

Yes, you can freeze lehsuni moong dal for up to a month. Store it in a freezer-safe container.

Thaw the curry overnight in the refrigerator. You can also defrost the curry in the microwave. Re-heat and serve the lehsuni moong dal. Enjoy!!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

This delicious lehsuni moong dal goes well with roti, paratha, or naan. It can be served with rice, quinoa, or millets as well.

Pic Shown: Lehsuni Moong Dal

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