This easy green lentil daal recipe is Indian inspired and packed full of tasty spices. It's ready in 45 minutes, made in one pot and perfect for meal prep. Made with coconut milk, it's creamy, rich and vegan, so it's perfect for your meat free Monday!
This easy green lentil daal is one of my most popular recipes with readers, and also at home! We make this so often because it's not only super tasty, but it makes a big batch and it freezes really well.
Inspired by Indian cuisine, this dish is wonderfully spiced, but not hot, so it's perfect for the whole family. Coconut milk makes it wonderfully rich and creamy, with a touch of sweetness.
If you are a fan of Indian food, be sure to check out my Vegan Chickpea Curry and Chicken Tandoori Skewers too!
Readers' Comments
"This was absolutely delicious." - Karen
"I'm a lentil nut so this was a lovely recipe to get to know. It's even better the next day." - Alan
"This was delicious. My family loved it. So easy to make." - Leanne
What is Daal?
Daal (or dahl, or dal) is a traditional Indian dish that is made form legumes - most commonly lentils, but it can also be made with split peas or beans. It can be served as a side dish or as a vegan main, and is often served with naan bread or rice to soak up all those spicy flavours.
Ingredients Notes
- Green lentils: I love daal with green lentils as they hold their shape and are firmer than red lentils
- Spices: Mustard seeds, turmeric, cumin, curry powder. Optional: curry leaves.
- Aromatics: Onion, ginger and garlid. Finely diced and minced.
- Red chilies: You can use more or les depending on your own tastes. Two red chilies makes a fairly mild dish.
- Coconut milk: Use full fat coconut milk rather than lite, for a richer and creamier finish. Coconut cream can also be used for a thicker final dish.
- Lime juice: Fresh lime juice helps to balance out the sweetness.
How to Make Green Lentil Daal
Here's the good news! This recipe is an easy weeknight meal that is cooked in one pot, on the table in 45 minutes and the leftovers are even better making this perfect for meal prep. I make a huge batch each time for lunches and easy re-heat dinners!
- Soak the lentils and chop and mince the onion, garlic, ginger and chili.
- Heat the spices in a pot til fragrant.
- Add in the onion, garlic, ginger and chili.
- Add the lentils, coconut milk, water and lime juice.
- Cook til the lentils are tender.
Recipe Variations
I kept my green lentil daal fairly simple for this recipe, but I have also added in extra veg in other batches. Spinach can be stirred in just before serving, or kale if you are that way inclined. I love it with mushrooms, or you could try cauliflower or carrots. I also love stirring in parsley or coriander (cilantro) at the end of the recipe.
This can be made with red lentils. The cooking time will be around 10 to 15 minutes and red lentils have a softer and mushier texture.
Readers have also made this recipe in both the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker with great success.
Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing
You can easily make this earlier in the day and then just warm it through to serve for dinner.
Once made, store it in an air tight container and it will keep well in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. Simply reheat in a pot on the stovetop to serve.
This green lentil daal freezes really well, and will keep for around 6 months. I like to freeze it in portions in freezer bags. Thaw the daal at room temperature before reheating on the stovetop.
Serving Suggestions
You can totally enjoy this dish by itself, it's hearty and filling and full of the good stuff! If you refer, you can serve smaller portions with a side of rice, or add some naan bread or poppadoms.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Make sure that your spices are fresh and fragrant for the best flavor.
- Soak the lentils in water while you prepare the rest of the dish. This will strt to soften them and reduce the cooking time.
- Take care not to overcook your spices before adding the other ingredients.
- Chop and mince the onion, garlic, ginger and chili as finely as you can so that they combine well with the lentils.
- Check on the pot during cooking and add more water if needed.
- If you reheat the leftovers, stir in a bit of cold water to the lentils to get the right consistency.
More Vegan Recipes
If you are looking for some more Indian vegan dishes head on over to one of my favourite bloggers, Vegan Richa, where you can find hundreds (if not thousands!) of recipes!
Green Lentil Daal
Ingredients
- 4 cups green lentils 800g
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon mustard seeds
- ½ tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon mild curry powder
- 2 bay leaves or 4 curry leaves if you can find them!
- 1 red onion finely diced
- 2 inches ginger minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 red chilis minced
- 27 fluid ounces coconut milk (2 cans) or cream if you want it thicker. 800ml
- 1 cup water 200 ml ( more if needed)
- juice of one lime
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place the lentils in a large bowl of water and set to one side. Chop the ingredients and get your spices ready!
- Heat the oil in large pot over a medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds.
- When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in the turmeric, cumin, curry powder and bay leaves. Stir for a couple of minutes until the spices become fragrant.
- Add in the onion, ginger, garlic and chili. Stir so that the spice coats the onions and cook for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften.
- Drain the lentils, and add in to the pot. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and water and mix well. Pop a lid on for 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, take the lid off and give a good stir, at this point you can add any added vegetables that you wish. Cook the dish for another 10 or so minutes until excess liquid has cooked off
- At this point, you could stir in some spinach or herbs - parsley and coriander work really well!
- Serve with naan or rice
Notes
- Make sure that your spices are fresh and fragrant for the best flavor.
- Soak the lentils in water while you prepare the rest of the dish. This will strt to soften them and reduce the cooking time.
- Take care not to overcook your spices before adding the other ingredients.
- Chop and mince the onion, garlic, ginger and chili as finely as you can so that they combine well with the lentils.
- Check on the pot during cooking and add more water if needed.
- If you reheat the leftovers, stir in a bit of cold water to the lentils to get the right consistency.
Ksren says
This was absolutely delicious
Karen says
I cooked this in the instant pot on high pressure for 15 minutes and it was perfect.
Slow The Cook Down says
Thanks for this Karen, I'm sure it will help many readers that have Instant Pots! Glad you enjoyed it!
Lorna says
Could this be cooked in a slow cooker?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Lorna,
I don't have a slow cooker, but I'm pretty sure this would turn out great in one - I found this recipe on another site - https://fromscratchfast.com/slow-cooker-lentil-dahl-recipe/ which looks really good. You can use the ingredients from this recipe and make that method to cook it.
Gail Lammers says
Are you sure that a single serving contains 617 kcals? I always understood 1 kcal to equal 1000 standard calories.
Even if this represents standard calories, the only sources of calories are the lentils themselves and the coconut milk. They rest of the ingredients have negligible calories. I did a calculation and didn't come near 617 standard, individual calories. If you are going to serve with naan or rice, the total for a main dish serving would be really huge even for my tall husband.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Gail,
I use a built in nutritional calculator for these amounts - I'm not a dietician, so these should always be taken as a guideline.
Kcal and calories are both the same things - you can read more info here. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/kcal-vs-calories
The calculations may differ as I use canned coconut milk, not carton, for this recipe which is higher in calories and fat.
I did just recheck the calculation to see if there was anything off, but it all seems to be calculating the correct ingredients on my end.
As I said, I'm not a dietician, so it's hard for me to comment further, but if you have an app or programme that you feel is more accurate, then for sure go with that 🙂
James H says
The ingredients are right but the instructions are a great way to burn your spices. You do not want to be cooking ground spices for 2 minutes and certainly not before adding the onions. The order should be: whole spices, then onions, finally ground spices. Only cook the ground spices for a few seconds before adding the liquid, otherwise it will burn.
You would be much better off using an animal fat instead of olive oil also.
Anna says
I burnt my spices on my first try, please listen to this comment!
Alex says
Is the 800g of lentils the dry weight?
Slow The Cook Down says
Yes, that's the dry weight. This recipe make a lot so it's great for meal prep and freezer meals, but you can easily halve the recipe if you want a smaller portion. Enjoy 🙂
Pia K says
Thank you for this recipe! I'm trying to learn how to cook Indian food and I happen to have all the ingredients in my pantry, so this sounds like the perfect recipe to start with! Just to make sure I'll get the flavors right, what kind of mustard seeds do you use (yellow, brown, black) or will any color do? And is there anything I should take into account if I try to make this some other time with red lentils? Is the method and cooking time the same?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Pia!
I used yellow mustard seeds. You can use black but they will be much stronger in flavor. Red lentils require less cooking time, 15-20 mins for whole red lentils and 5 to 7 minutes for split red lentils, so your daal will be quicker to make! Enjoy! I'd love to hear what you think 🙂
Pia K says
I tried this and it turned out great! I made a half a batch (single-person household), used black mustard seeds (reduced the amount a bit), took the liberty of adjusting the spices along the way and added an extra 200ml of coconut cream because I craved for something super creamy. Spinach was a delicious addition to this and I can't wait to experiment with other variations, too! Thank you so much, this became instantly one of my favourite veggie dishes ever!
Slow The Cook Down says
Hey Pia, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 It's a great dish to add lots of other veggies to and super easy to adjust to your taste. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know what you thought!
Alan says
Hi,
Nice recipe but i think you could reduce the amount of turmeric in the recipe. I followed your instructions to the letter - it does say 1 1/2 tbsp turmeric - and it's a bit overpowering. I work with indian people and they always tell me to use very little turmeric. I think this is just too much but otherwise tasty. Next time i make it i won't use so much. Thank you x
Alan says
Maybe 1/2 tbsp of turmeric and 400 ml of water? I added pepperitos and a couple of ripe plum toms as well as parsley.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Alan, thanks so much for the feedback! You are absolutely right, that's too much turmeric!! A typo I have now corrected, thank you for letting me know! Glad you enjoyed it and will be making it again!
Alan says
Hi there,
You're very welcome. I'm a lentil nut so this was a lovely recipe to get to know. It's even better the next day. Thanks so much.
Paul says
Toronto better than London for world food. Lived in both and not a chance!! Way better restaurants here.
Slow The Cook Down says
Don't get me wrong, British cuisine is amazing but I do love that so many world cuisines are so easy to access in Toronto for a fraction of the price. I for sure miss British Indian and the fine dining options that are available though - not to mention Monster Munch 😉
Francois Picketty says
This recipe doesn't seem to account for temperature at all, the first medium/high heat I used caused my mustard seeds to burn. Round two, I got all the way to the end where you are supposed to remove the lid, but the lentils were still hard - things had not had enough time to simmer and cook. I had to add some more water and take the heat down LOW for an extra 15 minutes to get things marginally soft enough to enjoy. The flavor is good, but it needs better notes about proper temperature control and the importance of slow simmering to get the lentils to soften up at the end.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hey Francois, so sorry that thais recipe didn't quite work out for you - it's one of the most popular recipes on my blog and have only had good feedback. Did you soak the lentils before cooking them? - this can help them to soften. Regardless, I will add additional notes to the recipe now based on your feedback - it's always great to hear from people that have made the recipe. I'm glad you enjoyed the flavor!
Francois Picketty says
Made he recipe again with your updated notes and it came out much better. Thank you taking the time to respond, you do good work.
Slow The Cook Down says
That's so great to hear Francois - thank you so much for letting me know, it's really appreciated 🙂
Chelsea says
Yum ,I'm a brit
& usually ,make dahl with red lentils, but today green ,as I dont have red ,live in mexico so hard to get ,been making my own curry for about 30 ,years ,since i left the uk ?
Slow The Cook Down says
Chelsea, there's nothing quite like a British curry right?! I'm always on the look out for new curry recipes to make!
tasha says
does this recipe call for the lentils to be already cooked?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Tasha, no, you don't cook the lentils first, you do want to soak them though in cold water. Do this while you chop the veggies and start cooking the base. Enjoy!
Cory says
Where does the lime factor into this recipe?
Slow The Cook Down says
Hi Cory, I just updated the recipe - thank you for asking! You add it in when you add the coconut milk. Enjoy!
Leanne says
This was delicious. My family loved it. So easy to make.
Slow The Cook Down says
That's so great to hear - so glad you enjoyed it! It's one of our go to meals!
Jane Saunders says
My daughter adores daal in any colour, but I've not come across a recipe for green before. Whenever we make Indian I always serve up some daal, since we all love it, it's such a great source of protein and it's so easy to make. I can't wait to try this version.
PS if you can lay your hands on 'Made in India' by Meera Sodha you'll be able to satisfy your Indian food cravings easily at home - it's my favourite cookbook right now - I've yet to make a recipe from it that hasn't been sensational.
Slow The Cook Down says
Hey Jane, you will have to let me know what you think about this version! I much prefer daal with green lentils, I find they keep their texture but still soak up all those flavours! I will definitely check out 'Made In India', it sounds exactly what I need!!
Beverley Joseph says
This is delicious. I used vegetable broth and less coconut milk. I didn't have any mustard seeds and it was still taste delicious.
Slow The Cook Down says
So glad you enjoyed it Beverley! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂