Methi Dal Recipe

It makes a healthy, comforting, everyday style meal when served with plain rice or roti with a side of salad, papad and pickle.

❤️ You’ll Love This Methi Dal Recipe

Taste & Flavor: 

A slight, unique bitterness from fresh methi leaves is actually pleasing to the palate when combined with lentils. Medium spicy (adjustable spice level) Lentils flavor is at its peak as no spice powders (except turmeric and chili powder) are used. 

Pack this methi dal into kid’s or adult’s lunch boxes with rice in a separate container. This makes a filling a meal. Meal prep friendly: Make a large batch of it and store some for later in the refrigerator or freeze some for busy/lazy day meals.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Lentils: Here I have used the mixture of 3 lentils (moong dal, masoor dal and toor dal). You can use the combination of any two or use just one. Try different variations so you don’t get tired of eating the same dal. Methi leaves: Whenever possible I try to use fresh methi in my cooking. But sometimes fresh fenugreek leaves are not easily available in Indian grocery stores. In that case, I would go for frozen methi. When it comes to frozen methi, I prefer to buy a pack of Vadilal brand that has a minimal amount of stems. Other brands like Deep and Surti have a good amount of tough stems that are not edible.  NO garam masala: Yes, this methi dal tastes super flavorful even without garam masala. Trust me!! Ginger Garlic: When I made this recipe, I had freshly grated ginger and garlic instead of using paste. Nowadays I crush them along with green chili in a wet jar of my spice grinder. Lemon juice or Lime juice: A must add. It perks up the flavor of the whole dish. Always add lemon or lime juice at the end of the cooking process meaning no more simmering or boiling dal after adding it. 

👩‍🍳 How to make methi dal? (stepwise photos)

1. Mix all three dal and rinse under running cold water until water runs clear. Or rinse into a bowl 2-3 times or until the water is not cloudy anymore. Take washed dal with fresh water in a pressure cooker.
2. Cover it with a lid, put the weight on and cook on medium heat for 3-4 whistles. Let the pressure go down by itself and then open the lid.
3. While dal is pressure cooking, start cooking masala on another stove. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle a bit.
4. Add ginger, garlic paste and green chili. Saute for a minute or until the raw smell of ginger garlic goes away. 
5. Add chopped onion and sprinkle a little salt to speed up the process.
6. Cook until the onion turns light brown in color. 
7. Add tomatoes and chopped methi.
8. Mix and cook until tomatoes are soft and almost mushy. Plus, methi leaves have wilted and cooked as well.
9. Add cooked dal, remaining salt, turmeric powder, and red chili powder.
10. Mix well.
11. Add water to get the dal consistency. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.
12. Lastly, squeeze the fresh lemon juice and stir. Dal is ready to serve.

💭 Expert Tips

Adjust the spice level by increasing or decreasing the green chili and red chili powder amount.

🍽 Serving Ideas

Serve methi dal with plain basmati rice or jeera rice. It can be served with roti or paratha.  A side of salad, papad, pickle and a glass of chaas make a complete meal.

Did you try this methi dal recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.

Dal palak Beet greens dal Gongura dal