Nimbu Dal is an excellent comfort food if paired with hot rice. These Lemon Lentils can also be paired with Rotis along with a subzi on the side for a sumptuous meal.
Dal – chawal is my comfort food and I look forward to cold winter nights to eat a bowl of steaming hot rice and lentils with some desi ghee in it. For the third and last day of cooking with lemons, I chose this classic tangy Nimbu Dal.
I made this dal with masoor dal (orange lentils), just because I love the flavor of the dal. You could also use moong dal or tuvar dal for the same recipe or a mix of dals.
We had this for dinner along with some phulkas and pumpkin subzi (recipe coming soon). I made the dal a bit on the runny side to allow us to sip it as soup. I have used onions in the recipe, but if preferred the onions could be skipped.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 30 minutes
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Nimbu Dal – (serves 4)
- Masoor dal (orange lentils) – ¾ cup
- Onion – 1 medium (chopped finely)
- Tomatoes – 3 (chopped finely)
- Green chilies – 2
- Ginger – 1 tsp (finely grated)
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
- Red chili powder – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon – ½ inch piece
- Ghee or oil – 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice – from 1 lemon or about 3-4 tbsp
- Salt – to taste
- Cilantro – for garnish
Procedure to make Lemon Lentils
- Wash the lentils couple of times and then cook it in enough water with a pinch of turmeric powder until soft. I usually cook the masoor dal on stove top, but if preferred you could cook it in pressure cooker.
- In a pan, heat the ghee or oil or a combination of both and then add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add the cinnamon stick and fry for about 30 seconds.
- Add the onions and sauté until golden brown. Then add the grated ginger and green chilies and fry for a minute more.
- Next goes in the chopped tomatoes along with salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder.
- Fry until the tomatoes are mushy.
- Now add the cooked dal along with some water (if needed) and let the mixture boil for about 8 – 10 minutes in medium heat.
- Add the cilantro and let the Lemon Lentils boil for a minute. Remove from the flame and add the lemon juice.
- Mix well and serve the Nimbu Dal steaming hot.
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Nimbu Dal – Lemon Lentils Recipe
Equipment
- bowl
- Stock pot
- pan
- spatula
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Masoor dal Orange lentils
- 1 medium Onion chopped finely
- 3 Tomatoes Chopped finely
- 2 Green chilies
- 1 tsp Ginger Finely grated
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- ½ inch piece Cinnamon
- 1 tbsp Ghee or oil
- 3-4 tbsp Lemon juice 1 lemon
- to taste Salt
- for garnish Cilantro
Instructions
- Wash the lentils couple of times and then cook it in enough water with a pinch of turmeric powder until soft. I usually cook the masoor dal on stove top, but if preferred you could cook it in pressure cooker.
- In a pan, heat the ghee or oil or a combination of both and then add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add the cinnamon stick and fry for about 30 seconds.
- Add the onions and sauté until golden brown. Then add the grated ginger and green chilies and fry for a minute more.
- Next goes in the chopped tomatoes along with salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder.
- Fry until the tomatoes are mushy.
- Now add the cooked dal along with some water (if needed) and let the mixture boil for about 8 – 10 minutes in medium heat.
- Add the cilantro and let it boil for a minute. Remove from flame and add the lemon juice.
- Mix well and serve the Nimbu Dal steaming hot.
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