Musur dal is the dish that quietly holds a Bengali kitchen together. It is not the meal you photograph. It is the meal you eat when the rice is ready, someone is hungry, and you want something that tastes like home without a long shopping list. Red lentils cook faster than almost any other dal, they are easy to find in ordinary supermarkets, and they take well to the small set of flavors most of us grew up with: turmeric, a little tomato, green chili, and a hot spoonful of oil with cumin and dried chili poured over the top.
This version is written for a regular stove and a diaspora pantry. If you have mustard oil, use it. If you do not, the dal will still be good. The goal is a pourable, golden dal that soaks into rice, not a thick paste. Once you make it a few times, you will stop measuring and start cooking by look and smell, which is how it is done in most homes.
Ingredients
Serves three to four with rice.
- 1 cup red lentils (musur or masoor dal), rinsed
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1 small ripe tomato, chopped, or 2 tablespoons canned tomato
- 1 or 2 green chilies, slit (optional)
- 1 tablespoon mustard oil, or 1 tablespoon neutral oil plus a few drops of mustard oil if you have it
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed (optional but lovely)
- A handful of cilantro, chopped, if you have it
- Lemon wedge or a tiny pinch of sugar, only if needed
Simmer the dal
Rinse the lentils in a few changes of water until most of the foam and dust are gone. Put the lentils, water, turmeric, salt, tomato, and green chili in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Foam will rise; you can skim it if you like a cleaner look. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook, stirring every few minutes so the lentils do not catch on the bottom.
In 18 to 25 minutes the lentils should collapse and the liquid should look creamy and golden. If the dal is too thick, add a splash of hot water. If it is too thin, simmer a little longer with the lid off. Everyday Bengali musur dal should be loose enough to pool around rice. Taste for salt now, before the tadka, so you are not guessing later.
Finish with tadka
Heat the mustard oil in a small pan until it shimmers. If you are not used to the raw smell of mustard oil, let it heat a little longer, then lower the flame. Add cumin seeds and dried red chilies. When the seeds dance, add the garlic and cook only until it turns pale gold. Immediately pour this over the dal. It should sizzle. Stir, simmer for two minutes, and turn off the heat.
Add cilantro if you are using it. If the tomato made the dal sharp, a very small pinch of sugar rounds it out the way many home cooks do. A squeeze of lemon is optional and fresh, not traditional in every house. Do not add butter, cream, or coconut milk. Those belong to other dals.
How to put it on the table
Serve the dal over hot steamed rice. The classic weekday plate is dal, rice, and one bhaja: thin potato fries, eggplant slices, or even a fried egg if that is what is in the fridge. Sliced onion, a green chili, and lime on the side are enough. Leftovers thicken overnight. Loosen with water when you reheat, and it becomes lunch with toast or more rice.