What Can I Cook With Red Lentils (Masoor)? 7 Dishes From a 30-Minute Daal to Haleem

The lentil that does not need planning

Most lentils ask you to think ahead. Chickpea lentils (chana daal) want a soak, and whole beans want a night. Red lentils (masoor, or masoor daal) do not. They are split and skinned, so they soften quickly and collapse into a creamy daal by themselves. Our daal recipe says masoor cooks quickly, while harder lentils such as chana or arhar need soaking and about 45 minutes or more.

That makes a bag of red lentils the easiest answer to "what can I cook with what I have" when you have an onion, a tomato and some garlic. Here are seven dishes from our library that use it, from a weeknight daal to a weekend project.

Everyday daal (under an hour)

Daal chawal. Pakistan's everyday comfort meal. 200 g (1 cup) of red lentils, washed and soaked for 10 minutes, then boiled with turmeric, salt and 4 cups of water for about 20 minutes, partly covered, until completely soft. Skim off the foam when it first boils. A quick onion, ginger and tomato masala goes in, and then a tarka of cumin and sliced garlic in hot ghee is poured over the top. Serve with 300 g (1.5 cups) of boiled rice. It serves 4 and takes 45 minutes. Marked Easy.

Musurir dal. The Bengali lunch version. The same 200 g (1 cup) of lentils with turmeric, but kept thinner. The card says to add water until it pours easily off a spoon. The tempering is panch phoron (a five-seed Bengali spice mix) or cumin, garlic and whole red chilli in oil, with lime squeezed over at the end. 35 minutes, Easy.

Dal tadka. North Indian, and it uses two lentils: 150 g (5.3 oz) of mung and 150 g (5.3 oz) of masoor. Mixing them gives a creamier texture than either alone. In a pressure cooker, 4 cups (1 litre) of water and about 15 minutes (3 whistles) does it. In an open pot, count on 30 to 35 minutes. The tadka has cumin, garlic, dried red chillies, onion and tomato. Take care not to burn the garlic, because burnt garlic turns the dal bitter. 40 minutes.

Shorbat addas. A Gulf red lentil soup, blended smooth. 250 g (1.25 cups) of lentils, an onion, a carrot, 3 garlic cloves, cumin and a lemon. The onion and carrot go in first, then the water, then 25 minutes of simmering. Blend, thin with water if needed, and add the lemon just before serving. It is a Ramadan starter in many Gulf homes, but it is also simply a good soup. 40 minutes.

The weekend project

Chicken haleem, Hyderabadi haleem and Dhakaiya haleem. In all three, red lentils are one grain among several, not the star. Chicken haleem uses 50 g (a quarter cup) of masoor alongside wheat, barley and chickpea lentils. Hyderabadi haleem uses 50 g (1.8 oz). Dhakaiya haleem uses 150 g (0.75 cup). They are long recipes. Chicken haleem has about 20 minutes of prep and 265 minutes of cooking for 6 people, Hyderabadi has 30 minutes of prep and 120 of cooking for 6, and Dhakaiya has 4 hours of prep (mostly soaking) and 2 hours of cooking for 8. The chicken version is the one to try first. If you are pressed for time, a pressure cooker shortens the grain and meat stages.

Cooking red lentils well

• Wash them two or three times until the water is mostly clear.
• Skim the foam when the pot first boils. It is harmless but can taste soapy.
• Whisk, do not blend, if you want a creamy home-style daal. A few turns with a spoon or whisk breaks up the soft lentils.
• Keep the tarka separate and add it last. Cumin takes only 10 to 15 seconds in hot ghee, and garlic about 30 to 40 seconds before it turns golden.
• Finish with lemon for brightness. Several of our recipes call for it.

Storing lentils and leftovers

• Dry lentils keep best in an airtight jar in a cool, dry cupboard. Old lentils take longer to soften, so very old stock may need extra time.
• Cooked daal should be cooled and refrigerated within 2 hours, and used within three to four days.
• Freezing: cooked daal freezes well in portions. Defrost in the fridge or reheat from frozen over low heat.
• Daal thickens as it cools. Our recipes all say to loosen it with hot water when reheating. Make the tarka fresh each time.
• Reheat until it is simmering and hot all the way through.

Swaps

• No masoor? The dal tadka recipe is built on mung plus masoor, so a mix works. For the daal chawal recipe we have only cooked masoor. Another lentil will change the time: chana and arhar need soaking and about 45 minutes or more.
• No ghee? We have not tested other fats in the tarka, but oil works for the Bengali dal, which uses a plain oil tempering.
• No lemon? The musurir dal recipe uses lime. Either works for a sour finish.

Cook it with Degchi

If you add masoor, onion, tomato and garlic to your Degchi pantry, the daal dishes show up as ready to cook. The recipe page marks each ingredient Have or Out and has a timer for every step. The app is free and in closed beta; join the beta if you would like to try it.

Questions

Do red lentils need soaking? Not for the dishes above. Our daal recipe soaks them for 10 minutes to shorten the cooking time slightly, and the other recipes skip it. Rinse them well either way.

Why is my daal watery or too thick? Both are easy to fix. Simmer uncovered to thicken, or stir in hot water to thin. Whisking helps it blend into a creamy texture.

Can I use red lentils from a tin or pouch? We have not tested them in these recipes. Tinned lentils are already cooked, so they only need to be heated in the masala, not boiled again.

Why does my daal taste bitter? Burnt garlic in the tarka is the usual cause. Fry it only until pale gold.