Skip to content
Plattershare Logo
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Sign In
  • Sign Up
Menu
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Sign In
  • Sign Up
Plattershare Logo
Search
Close
Explore
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Blog
Menu
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Blog
More
  • Contact Us
  • Contests
Menu
  • Contact Us
  • Contests
Advertisement

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name

June 14, 2016
•
Monika Patel
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
Table of Contents

Lentils (Daals) are a staple food of Indian diet. Almost every Indian home cooks daal in one of the meal. I have grown up eating daal chawal for ages now, this combination is a hit among kids & it was a fix item at lunch in our house.

You will not be surprised that Daals are not only delicious to eat but also packed with massive protein punch and that’s just the start! Just one cup of cooked Daal can give you as much as 62 per cent of your daily dietary fibre requirement! Daals also have high levels of important minerals like manganese, phosphorous, pottasium, iron and copper. They are high in folates and the B-vitamins like Thiamin..aaah isn’t it too much! Well I guess these are good enough reasons to include daal in your daily routine.

Sponsored

Indian daals/pulses are usually available in three types: the whole pulse, the split pulse with the skins on, and the split pulse with the skins removed.

Dal is often translated as “lentils” but actually refers to a split version of a number of lentils, peas, chickpeas (chana), kidney beans and so on. If a pulse is split into half, it is a dal. For example, split mung beans are mung dal.

You know my mom always called every daal by name to make us aware of the name of daals with their colour, but most of us generally recognise & call daals by their colour; yellow daal, black daal, red daal etc.. It’s is really a task to remember every daal by its name & differentiate one daal from another. To help those in a similar predicament, here are pictures of the most commonly used and popular Indian daals.

Chana dal

The words “chana dal” mean “split chickpeas.” (Chana gram is a whole chickpea). The most popular legume in India. Chana dal is a very versatile dried split yellow lentil with a slightly sweet taste, nutty flavor. It is used in variety of vegetable dishes. It can be cooked until soft for the dish called simply dal (yellow dal), or as in southern India it can be used as a spice in sambhar, chutneys, rasam etc..

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts

Tur dal/Toor Dal/Tuvardal/Toovhar dal

Toor Dal is a glassy dark yellow split pea (pigeon pea), similar to chana dal. Toovar daal exhibits a thick sticky consistency. They take a little longer to cook than moong or masoor dal but less time than chana daal. These yellow split peas can be made into dal which is served with side dish of vegetables, rice or flat breads. The South Indian delicacy, sambhar which is an accompaniment for dosa, idli or even rice is cooked with toordal.

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts

Urad Dal (whole and Split)

Also called black beluga Lentils.These lentil-like beans have black skins covering creamy white interiors. Whole urad dal/dahl derives their strong, rich, earthy flavour from the black skins and has an uncanny ability to absorb flavours. Split and without the skin Urad dal is a white lentil used along with rice to make dosas, the crisp pancakes of southern India and other Rice preparations. In South India, Urad dal is used as a seasoning with mustard seeds for curries.

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts

Mung dal/Moong Dal (whole and split)

Whole moong is actually a bean or pulse and is known as ‘sabat moong’. They are small green beans fairly used in India, China, Thailand and Japan. Sprouted they are used in salads or stir fries with lemon juice or vinaigrette.

In India Moong dal is used, which is split moong beans with the skin left (green skin yellow lentil) on or without the skin(yellow lentil). It is used to make delicious dals and curries. Moong lentils in particular is very easy to digest and take on seasonings and spices very well.

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts

Masoor Dal

While whole, this bean is greenish-brown, even though they can be prepared whole (masoor beans) Indian recipes often call for the skinned and split masoor, which is called masoor dal. Skinned split Masoor beans are actually called red lentils (orange in color). They have a dark, earthy flavor and a creamy texture. These lentils pair well with tomatoes and kheema/mince meats, sausages, and may be served on their own as a side dish, or incorporated into soups, stews, salads and Indian dal.

Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts

So now you all know them by name, here is a quick summary of how to cook them;

BEAN COOK TIME PRESSURE COOKER TIME WHISTLES SLOW COOKER SOAK
Mung, whole 60 to 70 minutes 8 to 10 minutes  5 low 5 to 6 hours 4 hours (optional)
Mung, split with skin  20 minutes  6 to 7 minutes  3  low 3 to 4 hours  optional
Mung, split  20 minutes  6 to 7 minutes  3  low 3 to 4 hours  optional
Urad, whole 60 to 70 minutes  10 to 12 minutes  6  low 5 to 6 hours  4 hours (optional)
Urad, split with skin  30 minutes  8 to 9 minutes  4  low 4 to 5 hours  30 minutes (optional)
Urad, split  30 minutes  8 to 9 minutes  4  low 4 to 5 hours  30 minutes (optional)
Garbanzo, brown 70 to 90 minutes  20 minutes  8  low 8 to 9 hours  8 hours to overnight
Garbanzo, white 70 to 90 minutes  20 minutes  8  low 8 to 9 hours  8 hours to overnight
Garbanzo, split (channa dal) 60 to 70 minutes  15 minutes  7  low 7 to 8 hours  optional
Masoor, whole 40 to 45 minutes  7 to 9 minutes  7  low 7 to 8 hours  optional
Pigeon Pea, whole 70 to 90 minutes  15 to 20 minutes  8  low 8 to 9 hours  8 hours to overnight
Pigeon Pea, split (tuver dal) 30 to 40 minutes  7 to 9 minutes  5  low 5 to 6 hours  30 minutes (optional)
Adzuki, whole 60 to 70 minutes  15 to 20 minutes  6  low 6 to 7 hours  optional

Tips: If improperly stored, Daals can easily get insects in them and spoil, so buy moderate amounts (about 1 kg each) and store in airtight containers.

Do You Know?
Sponsored
Tags
chana daal daals indian cooking indian daal international year of pulses lentils masoor moong daal pirateofkitchen pulses urad daal
Article By
Monika Patel

Monika Patel

Visit my profile
Featured Articles
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
9 Tips To Becoming The Killer Food Photographer
By Shilpa Jain
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
5 foods that you crave for on a rainy day
By Plattershare Team
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
10 Ways In Which You Can Promote Your Brand Online And Offline
By Plattershare Team
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
Most Important Eating Tips For Seniors
By Plattershare Team
7 Significant Health Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet
7 Significant Health Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet
By Ps Author
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
How To Write A Perfect Recipe – Do’s And Don’ts
By Plattershare Team
Sponsored
More From Author
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
Oil War! Which Oil Is Better For Cooking?
By Monika Patel
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
Top 5 Dishes To Eat When In Kashmir
By Monika Patel
Daal! (Pulses) You Dont Know By Name - Plattershare - Recipes, food stories and food enthusiasts
13 Kitchen Secrets For Smart Home-chefs
By Monika Patel
Browse by Categories
Cooking
Do You...
Eat /...
Events /...
Food Fun
Food Gadgets...
Gifting Ideas
How To's
News and...
Restaurants /...
Stories

0 Responses

  1. Kirti Yadav says:
    June 14, 2016 at 6:36 am

    This is an amazing and very very informative article. Even I don’t know all the names. The pics which you have posted are just amazing as they help us to distinguish between them.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Plattershare Logo

Plattershare is a platform to connect food lovers, food professionals and food brands. Share your recipes, food stories, food pictures and promote food businesses.

Facebook Instagram Youtube Pinterest Linkedin Twitter
Partner Sites
  • Finance
  • Yoga
Menu
  • Finance
  • Yoga
  • About Us
  • How it works?
  • Testimonials
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
Menu
  • About Us
  • How it works?
  • Testimonials
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
Copyright © 2022 Plattershare
*Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon without any additional cost to you..
Home
Recipes
Articles
Sign In
Sign Up

Add Plattershare to your Homescreen!

Click to Add
Explore
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Blog
Menu
  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Blog
More
  • Contact Us
  • Contests
Menu
  • Contact Us
  • Contests