Lalla Mussa Dal Recipe (2024)

This is an elaborate (not necessarily better) version of Amritsari dal. The typical recipe pressure-cooks the legumes with the water, ginger, chilies, tomato puree and clarified butter (or vegetable oil), collapsing steps 1-3 into one. Machine-blending can replace hand-mashing. Toss in salt, spices,cream and ginger at the end:separate pan-frying of the species is optional.Urad and mung beans (genus Vigna) are not lentils (genus Lens) and have a different flavor profile: both are *legumes*.

Substituted a can of coconut milk for the heavy cream and used a Jalapeño instead of the prescribed pepper. Also used an immersion blender instead of mashing with the back of the spoon. It’s quite a forgiving and delicious dish. Excellent served with basmati rice.

Yummy, although I did not use even half as much cream and butter. YOu can taste the flavors better, I think. Pressure cooked the lentils with ginger and chilies ( I used thai chillies). Meanwhile melted a couple of tablespoons of butter and cooked the tomato, garlic and spices all at the same time on low heat until oil separated. Mixed in with lentils and a drizzle of cream, and necessary water. Returned to just boiling.

1/2 tsp curry powder substituted for FenugreekUsed only 1/4 tsp cayenne pepperNext time will only use one Serrano pepper as a bit spicy for our family

I did this in the instant pot using a recommendation of a previous commenter. Prepared onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, spices sauce first on sauté setting. Then removed that, heated ghee, chopped chili peppers and cumin seeds in the pot. Then added the soaking urad and mung beans along with the tomato-onion purée and cooked for 30 minutes in pressure cooker mode. Came out super delicious!!

I am sure all the suggested variations are quite good. Yet it is worth the effort to find an Indian market and get all the specific items in the recipe: the peppers, the Kashmiri red chili powder and the fenugreek leaves. When you use the actual Indian spices you will find the dish has a layer of complexity that is unique. (confession - I did use coconut milk instead of the cream, however)

I find that lovage, fresh from the garden or dried, is a very good substitute for the aromatic green/sotolon component of fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi). You may even need less, since lovage leaves are so intense.

I’ve made this twice. The first time, I felt it was SO much effort for something we literally consumed in one meal (four servings? Really? Only if it’s a side dish…). This time, I doubled the recipe and it’s totally worth it. Note to self for next time: mince the ginger and serranos, it’s not my preference to have the whole strips in a bite, even if softened.

I used coconut milk instead of cream and I didn’t have fresh fiber so I used ground ginger. It still came out super flavorful and rich. Might go with less butter next time.

Quite nice but too greasy. I would greatly reduce the amount of butter next time.

Used cumin sub recommendation

Made this recipe as written. Taking the time to get the exact ingredients from a local Indian market was totally worth it! A great depth of flavor!! Really loved it!

I used a little more than a quarter of a teaspoon of crushed yellow mustard seeds and curry powder instead of the fenugreek leaves. I removed most of the seeds from the two Serrano chilies. Next time, I might just use one Serrano chili.

Why skim the scum and dirt off the top and discard if you strain in step 2? How long do you boil?

You can use a pressure cooker to cook legumes but to get rich creamy texture and flavor you still have to slow cook the dal for a long time. You shouldn't puree entire pot of cooked daal in the blender, just puree about 1/2 cup of dal and add it back to the pot. This will eliminate need to mash.

This is very good, but please note that it's tomato puree, not tomato paste. I used the latter based on an initial misread and then the quantity matched the volume of a can, so I went with it. But it was very tomato-y which dominated the flavor, I had to correct other seasonings to compensate. L

I loved the recipe but I don’t think any Indian will make it this way

It was delicious, just follow the recipe After u have cooked and tasted following the recipe exactly , then you can make changes, if u want, but try it once with the chefs way !!

Made the lentils separately in instant pot-12 minutes high pressure, used 3 c water for double recipe. Sautéed garlic, minced ginger, minced chilies and 1/2 diced onion in 4 tsp of oil. Once soft added tomato purée and cooked with remaining spices as Priya described, adding 1/2 tsp turmeric. Skipped butter completely, and subbed in coconut milk for just the cream. From a dal hater-this is incredibly delicious-even my Punjabi husband agrees. Took less than 1 hour in total.

Delicious. I used coconut milk instead of cream. Came out delicious!

Best dal ever. I only had one serrano chili and substituted Thai chilis for the rest. I doubled the recipe so I could use an entire can of tomatoes. I started cooking the tomato mixture right after the lentils were simmering for the 45 minute portion and cooked it down to a delicious jam (which would be good on its own). I used an immersion blender instead of mashing. So good.