This one used to be my favourite among all the daals prepared by my mother.
Coming back from school, it felt like almost a feast when my mummy served me a plate of daal-chawal (lentils with rice). Since daal-chawal is a staple meal, my mother used to make different kinds of daals to offer variety in our meals. Among all the varieties of daals (lentils), this one used to be my absolute favourite. Something about the texture, or the goodness of five daals coming together makes panchmel daal so flavourful.
Kinds of Lentils Needed For This Recipe
- Mung Daal: known as split yellow mung beans. These are easily found at Indian stores.
- Masoor Daal: known as red lentils. You can find these at Indian as well we German grocery stores. These are available by the name Rote Linsen at most German grocery stores.
- Dhuli Urad Daal: These are dehusked and split form of black gram lentils or urad daal. You will find these are Indian stores.
- Arhar/Toor Daal: also known as split pigeon peas. You will find it at Indian stores. Sometimes also available at German grocery stores by the name Gelbe linsen.
- Sabit Masoor Daal: also known as Indian brown lentils. These are available at Indian grocery and German grocery stores. German grocery stores carry it by the name Berglinsen.
Notes: The lentils used in this recipe take almost the same time to cook, hence these lentils are chosen for the recipe. If you are adding any other kind of daal, the cooking time and consistency will differ. The amounts of daal used is the same for all kinds except for masoor daal (red lentils). I add more red lentils as they give a creamy consistency to the daal.
What if I Get Bloated Stomach After Eating Lentils?
Some people may find it difficult to digest certain kinds of lentils. Some of the lentils may cause bloating in certain cases.
To make it easily digestible, we add hing (asafoetida) to this recipe. Hing (pictured below) is believed to help with digestion according to Ayurveda. It’s tried and tested for us. No gases or upset stomach after having this panchmel daal. Hing could be found at Indian stores. You may find it pungent when uncooked, but once it is cooked the smell isn’t as strong and pungent. Feel free to skip hing if you can’t find it.
Other Ingredients Needed For the Recipe
Notes about ingredients
- Hing (asafoetida): It is available in powdered form at Indian stores. You may skip it too.
- Spices: All the spices needed for this recipe are easily found at Indian stores. These are even available at some of the German grocery store (turmeric = Kurkuma, coriander = Koriander). You may use cayenne pepper instead of red chili powder if that is more easily available to you.
- Whole red chilies: These could be found at Indian stores too. If you do not have them, you can add crushed red chilies instead.
- Ghee: I prefer using homemade desi ghee, but you can use any other oil instead.
Watch the video instructions to easily follow the recipe
Panchmel Daal (5 sorts lentil mix)
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 50 grams (¼ cup) Split yellow mung beans (Mung daal)
- 50 grams (¼ cup) Split and dehusked black gram lentils (dhuli Urad daal)
- 50 grams (¼ cup) Split pigeon peas (Arhar/ Toor Daal)
- 50 grams (¼ cup) Indian brown lentils (sabit Masoor)
- 100 grams (½ cup) Red lentils (Masoor daal)
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 Tbsp ghee (or oil)
- a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 liter water
For tadka (tempering):
- 2 Tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 whole dried red chilies (or ¼ tsp crushed red chilies)
For garnich (optional):
- a handful of chopped fresh coriander
- 1 chopped green chili
Instructions
- Wash the lentils several times until the water that comes out of it is clear. Soak the lentils in room temperature water for 30 minutes.
- Dice the onion and tomato.
- Turn the instant pot on saute mode and add ghee. (If using pressure cooker, put it on medium heat and add ghee.)
- Once the ghee has melted add the asafoetida (hing) and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes.
- When the onion just starts to turn brown, add the tomatoes along with turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Sauté for 3 minutes. If the spices start to stick to the bottom, add splashes of water and continue to sauté.
- Darin the lentils completely. Add to the pot along with the salt and water. Mix to combine everything. Put the lid on (sealing position) and set to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. (If using pressure cooker, seal with a lid and cook on medium low for 15 minutes).
- Release pressure and carefully open the lid. Mix the daal for a few minutes preferably using a deep round spatula. Then cover until you prepare the tadka.
Tadka:
- Heat the ghee in a pan/skillet on medium heat.
- Once hot, add the cumin seeds and whole dried red chilies. Fry for about 2 minutes until the cumin is fragrant and starts to crackle.
- Immediately pour the tadka over the hot daal.
- Serve over basmaiti rice, brown rice or with chapati.
Notes
Looks like a cool recipe, can’t wait to try it out! I was wondering it is ok if I use split Urad daal with husk? I don’t feel like buying another bag right now.
Hi, yes split urad daal with husk should work too. Would appreciate your feedback once you try it 🙂