A Simple Homey, Coconut-y Red Lentil Dal

I’ve made this a number of times and always have the ingredients on the shelf. I often add potatoes, cauliflower or green beans if I want to bulk it up, and sometimes Italian parsley or cilantro for color. Great recipe.

I don't change a thing. It is like a hug in a bowl.

This is on regular rotation through cool weather season— with our without curry leaves, it’s perfect, literally perfect, just as written. We are redoing our kitchen at the moment and I’m going to try it with just an instant pot tonight!

I almost never make the same recipe twice, but this recipe is a constant for me. I return to it over and over again when I want a sense of comfort and a huge burst of flavor in an extremely simple and affordable meal. I just relocated across the world and this is the first thing I’m making myself. Truly exquisite.

Delicious, even without curry leaves. Don’t have those in these parts!😊

delicious easy and cheap!!!

One of the best soups I've ever had! Wow

Finally I made a dahl from scratch that tastes as it should, it was delicious! And easy to make too. The quantity was quite large though, could feed about 30 people so next time I will cut the recipe in half. I highly recommend this recipe.

Revisit this old favourite today and added massive amount of chopped ginger and plenty of okra. Very delicious addition especially since the thick texture of the stew hide the sliminess of okra very well.

I made this last week after returning from Israel and craving Indian food!! I kept it super simple and skipped step two altogether. (left our the oil and tempered spices) added a big pinch of curry powder and some extra ground cumin. Making it again, same way for a couple of good friends. Thank you for sharing this so that I can share as well!!

Best dal recipe!! I was looking for a recipe for dal, found this one, and never looked back. Simple to make and so delicious (especially with some homemade naan). I've made it multiple times and guests love it!

One of my favorite soup recipes! I always make a double recipe because my neighbors love it, too!

I loved and this recipe in 2014 and I still love it. I always have the ingredients in my pantry so I can make it anytime. My only tweak is to amp up the heat - typically with crushed red pepper (another staple in our house).

This looks like how I make Sri Lankan dhal curry! It's the best! :)

This is one of the best recipes I've come across off this website...it's super flavorful! I wouldn't skip the curry leaves, they add so much flavor to the dish! I add a few lime leaves as well.

Might I add that this is a Sri Lankan dish and not necessarily an Indian one? The dhal curry as we call it, is a Sri Lankan staple served in almost every household, wayside eating joint and etc for breakfast, lunch and dinner. True that Sri Lankan cuisine has Indian influences but if you look closely, you will see that
a) Using coconut milk in savory dishes is not very popular in India, except for maybe Kerala. On the other hand, coconut milk is used regularly in Sri Lankan cuisine. In fact, it is hard to find a recipe that does not use it!
b) The use of curry leaf is also a very Sri Lankan thing to do. While we Sri Lankans use the curry leaf for almost every curry in sight, Indians use it sparsely, and rely instead on other spices instead.
It really is a pity that Sri Lankan cuisine is often mistaken with Indian cuisine. We have in possession many rare gems of culinary excellence which remains to be unveiled to the world :)
In any case it is a delicious dish. And thank you for sharing it :)

Thanks Nicholas- I've made this twice now [both times without the curry leaves as they are scarce in my parts (East Los Angeles, I know, I could find 'em if I was willing to drive across town for lentils, I'm not)]. Both times I have halved the recipe and it does not seem to suffer at all. I serve it over coconut rice, fresh cilantro for garnish and add a few good dollops of "Melinda's Naga Jolokia" pepper sauce at the end as I like my food spicier than my friends do. So satisfying...brilliant even. Thanks!

This was the best soup I've ever had! Be sure to search for the curry leaves, what they add is inexplicably delicious!

I made this soup today , and it is real good..very yummy.

Awesome soup. Froze perfectly and was a delish soup dinner tonite.

My first time making Indian food-- absolutely wonderful! My only modifications were: I used 2 cups of lentils, ¾ cup of tomatoes, 2 tsp of curry powder and powdered forms of the spices at the end with the onions. Fantastic.

I halved the lentils and the water but then doubled the spices as we wanted a very flavorful dal. I did end up adding the full can of coconut milk to make sure the lentils would reheat well and not soak up too much of the liquid in our leftovers. So tasty.

This is quite easy and with those cumin seeds, really tasty, for bigger and younger gourmets alike. But be warned, it does make 11 cups, which is a lot!

Delish! Like a handful of other reviewers I halved the lentils and subsequently the coconut milk, because it's just me (which is still plenty of lentils for the freezer and lunches for the week) and kept most of the other ingredients as written. I added a lot more cayenne and some chile de arbol and it still wasn't too spicy (for me). Roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds and chopped lots of fresh parsley, cilantro and scallions for garnish. Served over coconut rice, just to keep with the theme. All in all a very good, if a little abundant basic recipe. I'm looking forward to my leftovers for lunch!

Very enjoyable vegan main dish. The richness of coconut milk made it special.

Here's a modified version of the recipe that ups the flavor:

Red lentil coconut dal
• 2 cups red lentils (masoor dal)
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• ½ inch piece ginger, diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves (optional but worth seeking out)
• 1 medium yellow or red onion, diced
• Sea salt to taste
• 1 14-oz can coconut milk
1. In a large saucepan, combine the lentils and tomatoes. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until the lentils begin to break down. Add more water if needed.
2. In a frying pan, warm the ghee over medium to high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the spices. Cover the pan and wait briefly until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Then add the diced onion and the curry leaves and cook, stirring to prevent the leaves from burning, until lightly browned.
3. Add the curry leaf/onion mixture to the lentils along with the coconut milk and salt to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the flavors have melded.

This was great: easy, fast, and very tasty. served it with rice, yogurt and coriander...will definetely be making it again!

I'm making this a SECOND time now because I can't stop thinking about it!! Even my picky 11 year old loved it even though I "accidentally" added a little extra cayenne. The only difference is that I used coconut oil to cook the seeds; I don't usually keep vegetable oil in my pantry. This time I even found some vegan naan to go with!!!

I'm trying to like this, but it wasn't as flavorful as I'd hoped and when I took it out of the fridge for lunches, had congealed to the point of looking like dog food. It still looks a bit like dog food while I'm eating it and that's making it hard to enjoy (i eat with my eyes)

I loved this, (like Transcendancing, I sauteed onions and spices in ghee before adding lentil and water). The spices were so lovely, but ended up being a little dilute after 3 cups of lentils and 7 cups of water, so next time I think I'll use half the lentils and water (or twice the spices) for a stronger flavors (even my 15 year old daughter who was drawn to the dish while it was cooking, said she was surprised by its blandness when it was finished). I also cleared a spot in the skillet of seeds/onions and sautéed 1/2" fresh ginger and a clove of garlic with a bit of oil right at the end. I loved all the elements; just needed the spices to be a little louder.

This was delicious, I did things slightly differently by sautéing the onions and spices in ghee, then adding the lentil and water and once they'd started softening added the tomatoes and salt and two whole dried chilli. I ground up the curry leaves (mine were dried) with the spices, and added only 270mL coconut milk. Served with rice, topped with yoghurt and fresh coriander, delicious! Will definitely make this again!

This was just wonderful- flavorful, healthy, balanced, easy. And with the addition of rice, it made enough to serve 8! I have so many red lentil stews in my recipe cache- I think I'm going to toss all but this one.

OH my. I'd been wanting to try this recipe so last night was the night I was at my daughter's and needed to please a 2 year old. My son in law had it for lunch and dinner, my daughter groaned with pleasure and baby wanted to eat it right out of the pot and cried when her parents denied her request.

Made this last night and it was great! We like spice so upped the spices a bit and added a touch of garlic. Will definitely be making it again!

This is a good base recipe for dahl; tasty, quick and easily adapted to taste. In our house, we love our spicese, so I upped the amount of those already included in the recipe, and on top of that added in some fenugreek, cardamom pods and whole cinnamon. Served with cauliflower rice, some fresh cilantro and yogurt, this was a delicious meal!

Absolutely incredible! My partner is Indian - I am not - and I served this to him and his Indian friends for dinner recently. They were blown away! I now keep this in individual containers in the freezer at all times. Thanks!

Of course this (and every) dal can be adapted in innumerable ways that are all just as good or better. Dried curry leaves, curry powder, cilantro, more or less cumin, nigella seeds, bay leaves, fenugreek, garam masala powder, chili, barely a pinch of asafoetida, any oil you like, light coconut milk, omit coconut milk and/or use more water and a few tbsp of cream or non-dairy milk instead, garlic, lemon or lime juice, green onion, grated ginger. These are common ingredients in yellow and red dal recipes, and they all work beautifully. Split red (masoor dal), yellow (tadka dal), or pigeon (arhar dal) peas work equally well.

This is absolutely divine. I didn't mind eating it night after night, and even froze half of it so that I could eat again for lunch the next week. It's savory, lightly creamy, and healthy. SO good.

This is an quick, easy and very tasty dish! Like most foods of this ilk they taste sublime the next day after the flavors have really melded. The curry leaves are very easy to find online and really add to the flavor - dried ones are great and once they are sauté with the spices (I, too, used ghee instead of oil) they smell great. Another tiny thing I did differently was sauté the spices before adding the lentils, tomatoes and water - most Indian recipes suggest warming the spices to bring out the oils and flavors. And, I served the dal over a bulgur pulao - it was all wonderful.

Looks delicious..you can also add some green chillies and cilantro leaves for better taste..
for more indian dal recipes www.dal.org.in

This recipe worked well for us. I served it with roti and a cucumber salad. I too was only able to find dried curry leaves so I omitted them. It makes a large pot of dal, for little money and effort. A perfect weeknight meal. My eight and six year old were fans.

We made a variation on this recipe in a group-cook this weekend that was a bit wild and rollicking. Since we already had one lentil dish, we subbed canned garbanzos. Somehow the chilies didn't make it home from the market, so it wasn't spicy at all (hot chutney helped a little but differently). But the reason I am commenting is because, having read too many recipes too close together, we ended up subbing the juice of one big (expensive!) lime for the curry leaves. Really meant to do a bay leaf as mentioned in earlier comments, but ... something else happened! The dish was DELICIOUS, and two friends had a great experience for their first time cooking Indian. I need to make it again, next time with chilies and either bay or curry leaves. Unless I make it to the Indian store in the interim. THANKS for a great recipe! Sorry I changed it quite so much : )

I made this for dinner tonight - it was very nice! I subbed light coconut milk, and only used 1 tbsp of oil to saute the onions and spices. I didn't have curry leaves so I added about 1.5 tsp madras curry powder and that worked well.

Delicious!!! I halved the lentils (used yellow lentils) but didn't halved the rest of the ingredients. LOTS of flavor!!! Used 5 bay leaves instead of curry leaves. 3/4 can of coconut milk. 1 minced up thai chilli. spicy and flavorful!!!!

to Judy above: When you cook red lentils, they turn yellow (also the turmeric will contribute to the yellow coloring.

This recipe has become a regular in our rotation. So easy to make and delicious. I don't have access to curry leaves but it's still good without them. The soup goes great with a side of fresh pineapple.

We add peeled carrots to the pot while cooking the masoor dal, onion and turmeric. When done, we fry cumin seeds and garlic (a lot of each) until the garlic begins to brown. Add to the dal, stir quickly and cover. Let sit for at least half hour. Just before serving, reheat and then we add fresh chopped tomato and spinach to wilt.

Do you think I could use white lentils as well ?

This was very nice but it didn't have enough flavor for my family, including my daughter. I did use ghee instead of oil, which helped, and I also added both black and yellow mustard seeds and nigella to the temper plus lots of curry leaves and a couple of hot peppers but I was underwhelmed. I finished with some lemon juice which helped. Friends liked it but I couldn't get too excited. sorry - really wanted to love it!

the picture seem to me to be yellow dal, not red. But i'm sure it will come out just as good. I only have dried curry leaves. Have had for a while, but haven't used. Will give it a try with this recipe. First time on this web site. Nice!

Delish! I added some chopped tomatoes and green onions at the end as a garnish and it brighten the dish. Thanks!

My 10-month old loved this, as did I. Thanks!

This recipe is delicious! Thank you for sharing.

Love this dal! Had to use some less exotic ingredients I had on hand( cilantro for example) but this recipe will now be one of my regulars. Thank you!

Loved this! I halved the recipe but still added the full can of coconut milk as it seemed to be getting dry and I like coconut. It turned out great!

I made this tonight. I used coconut oil instead of olive oil. I added 2 seeded chopped jalapenos with the first of the chopped onions. I didn't have ground coriander so I added coriander seeds with the cumin and mustard seeds. I was only able to find dried curry leaves but Torrey (below) saved me from disaster and I omitted them and added chopped cilantro at the end of the cooking time. I also used light coconut milk. It was really delicious. I doubled the recipe and now I have lentils for daaaaaays!

Nice recipe. Would be even better using ghee for the temper, instead of vegetable oil. And yes, curry leaves are awesome, and they have to be fresh. If you have an Indian grocery, they will have them. Or grow your own. :-)

I couldn't find coriander, mustard seeds and cumin seeds in my local Hasidic market and it was too cold out in NYC today to travel too far so I used what I had on hand: curry powder. The TJs curry powder I used had all the ingredients in one little bottle. I substituted this curry powder each time it called for a spice and used cilantro instead of curry leaves and threw in some cauliflower. It turned out wonderfully but I imagine it being even better if I followed the recipe more exactly. I will try dicing some potatoes in next time too. Thanks for the great recipe!

I made this tonight...a perfect winter warm-up and so easy! I had never heard of curry leaves but was surprised to find them easily at an international market here; a good handful cost all of 80 cents, and thanks to your tips below now there's enough in a bag in my freezer to last me a looooong time. (Thanks also for clarifying that it has nothing to do with curry powder.)

This recipe called my name so loudly when you posted it that I dragged my kids to the Indian grocer to buy curry leaves. It was well worth it, even if my kids didn't devour it like I'd hoped for. They tried it, though, and ate several bites, which was victory enough for me. A little lime juice at the end brightens it nicely.

This was delicious! Next time though, I don't think I'll cook the lentils as long. A little over 15 min did the trick for me.

This is a really wonderful, balanced dal recipe. I added an additional cup of water, as my personal preference is for a souplier dal -- but other than that, I followed it pretty closely. I love the addition at the end of frying the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, onions & leaves (I used cilantro since i didn't have curry leaves on hand -- I just added a bit later, when the onions were almost done) and adding to the dal at the end. I've made quite a few lentil dal recipes before, but this step really added a dimension I hadn't previously experienced. Delicious!

If you can't find curry leaves, bay leaf might add a nice note to this.

Do you think we could use (less) dried curry leaves in the tarka?

We had this for dinner tonight. Absolutely spectacular! I love lentils and Indian food, and I'm happy that I happened to have plenty of masoor dal on hand. My hubby loved it, too, and is now not disappointed that he didn't have meat at dinner. I didn't have curry leaves, but it's still delicious. I appreciate that this was an easy recipe to make. This recipe is a keeper!

You can also dry curry leaves and they do keep rather well.

This was absolutely delicious. I adapted it a bit, mainly in the tarka step:
Our store was out of curry leaves, so I used cilantro, added to the tarka once I took it off heat.
I used green onion instead of yellow onion in the tarka; I also swapped 2 garlic cloves for the cumin seed.
I used coconut manna as the fat.
Saving this one to make again, thank you!

I have an allergy to tomatoes but this sounds lovely - any ideas for a replacement or can i just leave out and add a little liquid from something else? I know it seems like a key part of the recipe but love the spices and coconut milk here!

We add peeled carrots with the masoor dal, onion and turmeric. When the carrots are done, we make a simple tarka using garlic and cumin seeds. After the dal has sat for the flavors to blend, we add some fresh spinach and tomatoes to warm thru just before serving. Never used curry leaves in dal but will very soon.

Curry leaves freeze well, so if you find a supply, just drop the extras in a double plastic bag and put them where you can retrieve them in your freezer. Also, if you're really an addict, you can find curry leaf trees to grow, inside, online.

Serendipity. A friend just picked up some fresh curry leaves yesterday and gifted me with a share. Red lentil dal here I come.

I made this tonight- rave reviews from the parents AND from both kids (and one is verrrry picky). Thank you for this excellent addition to the rotation

This recipe came out really well! I'm lucky enough to live near several Indian markets, and the staff at the one I went to were very nice about helping me find curry leaves. I didn't know what curry leaves look like, but they have an aroma I instantly recognized from dining at Indian restaurants. Thanks for the recipe!

Curry leaves don't taste a lot like curry powder. Plus, it would just overlap with the turmeric, cumin and coriander. I think something more herbaceous -- even something like cilantro -- would be a good replacement.

i was wondering the same thing. can you use curry powder instead of impossible-to-find curry leaves? also, i made this recipe the other night and added lemon. next time, i will cut the salt in 1/2.

Making this!

Should i use curry powder or anything in the place of curry leaves if I can't find them?

This was my absolute favorite dish as a kid!

This looks gorgeous!