Gujarati Dal is a staple in everyday Gujarati cooking and is usually served as part of a Gujarati thali. This Gujarati Toor dal is made with authentic flavours and tastes like the version found in weddings.
Gujarati food is pure comfort food in our house as we have all grown up eating it. My grandmas both had their own dal recipe and now my Mum has taught me her way.
It has a tangy, sweet (khatti meethi) and spicy taste and has a runnier consistency compared to other daals. It is smooth as the lentils are cooked and then blended before adding more flavours.
We also add jaggery in the cooking process to bring sweetness which is essential for a good Gujarati dal. Kokum or imli adds sourness which complements the sweetness.
Suran is unique to Gujarati dal and enhances the depth of flavour of the dal. Suran is often used in Gujarati lagan dals that are made for Gujarati weddings! Peanuts are another festive addition.
The secret for the best Gujarati dal is to keep it simmering on a low heat for a long time – around half an hour.
Serving Suggestion
It is traditionally made without onion-garlic and often served with Gujarati Churma Na Ladwa , Gujarati Jamanvar nu Bateta Nu Saak and Masala Fulwadi in a wedding or other special occasions.
This dal has its own unique taste so will best accompany other Gujarati shaak, especially dry curries. You’ll find plenty of inspiration in with this Gujarati dinner menu . Do not pair it with onion-garlic based curries or flavours from other cuisines if you want to enjoy the true taste of this dal. Tindora nu shaak goes so well with it.
A typical everyday Gujarati thali comprises of Dal-Bhaat-Shaak ( basmati rice ) and rotli (thin wholewheat flatbreads) along with salad, pickle, plain yogurt or chaas and roasted papad .
Sometimes my mum drizzles some homemade ghee on her dal bhat.
Use leftovers to make dal paratha or dal dhokli (another Gujarati special).
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
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Gujarati Dal
Equipment
- Pressure cooker or Instant Pot
- pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor daal split pigeon peas –
- ⅛ cup suran elephant’s foot yam
- 2 teaspoon crushed green chillies and ginger
- 2-3 tablespoon jaggery
- 2 tablespoon tamarind pulp or 2-3 kokum or lemon juice
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tablespoon peanuts
- ¼ cup chopped tomatoes or puree
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin and coriander
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- salt to taste
Tempering/Vaghar
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 clove laving (optional)
- ½ inch cinnamon taj (optional)
- 1 star anise chakra phool (optional)
- 1 dried red chilli
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds rai
- ¼ teaspoon methi seeds fenugreek seeds
- pinch hing
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder for deeper colour use kashmiri chili powder
Garnish
- 2 tablespoon coriander chopped
Instructions
- First clean and wash dal with water.
- Place it in the pressure cooker with suran and sufficient water.
- Cook until 3 whistles or until well cooked.
- Once the cooker naturally cools down open the lid.
- I have used Instant pot to boil the lentils.
- Blend with a blender or whisk until smooth.
- Add turmeric, dhana jeeru powder, garam masala, jaggery, green chilli and ginger, tomatoes, tamarind paste (kokum) and peanuts.
- Add some water and mix well.
- Bring the dal to boil and boil it on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
- Then lower the heat and simmer for a good 15-20 minutes.
- Heat oil in a small pan, add dried red chilli, whole spices, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
- Once you hear a crackle, add hing, immediately add red chili powder and pour the tadka over the dal.
- Mix everything, bring it to vigorous boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Garnish the dal with coriander leaves.
- Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First published in January 2010.
Gujarati Dal
Equipment
- Pressure cooker or Instant Pot
- pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor daal split pigeon peas -
- ⅛ cup suran elephant’s foot yam
- 2 teaspoon crushed green chillies and ginger
- 2-3 tablespoon jaggery
- 2 tablespoon tamarind pulp or 2-3 kokum or lemon juice
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tablespoon peanuts
- ¼ cup chopped tomatoes or puree
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin and coriander
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- salt to taste
Tempering/Vaghar
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 clove laving (optional)
- ½ inch cinnamon taj (optional)
- 1 star anise chakra phool (optional)
- 1 dried red chilli
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds rai
- ¼ teaspoon methi seeds fenugreek seeds
- pinch hing
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder for deeper colour use kashmiri chili powder
Garnish
- 2 tablespoon coriander chopped
Instructions
- First clean and wash dal with water.
- Place it in the pressure cooker with suran and sufficient water.
- Cook until 3 whistles or until well cooked.
- Once the cooker naturally cools down open the lid.
- I have used Instant pot to boil the lentils.
- Blend with a blender or whisk until smooth.
- Add turmeric, dhana jeeru powder, garam masala, jaggery, green chilli and ginger, tomatoes, tamarind paste (kokum) and peanuts.
- Add some water and mix well.
- Bring the dal to boil and boil it on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.
- Then lower the heat and simmer for a good 15-20 minutes.
- Heat oil in a small pan, add dried red chilli, whole spices, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
- Once you hear a crackle, add hing, immediately add red chili powder and pour the tadka over the dal.
- Mix everything, bring it to vigorous boil for 3-4 minutes.
- Garnish the dal with coriander leaves.
- Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Gujarati sabudana khichdi is a popular dish prepared with soaked tapioca pearls, potatoes, peanuts and basic spices. This authentic recipe is great for Hindu fasting (vrat). Get the perfect non-sticky sabudana khichdi with my tips.
Best enjoyed with karak chai or plain yogurt.
Sabudana are tapioca pearls or sago pearls. Sabudana khichdi is eaten either during fasting, especially during Navratri but also Janmasthmi, Mahashivratri, Shravan month, or any other fasting day.
With sabudana, you can also prepare these crispy Gujarati sabudana vada or farali sabudana vada chaat .
We often prepare moraiyo khichdi along with farali kadhi for a quick fasting meal.
Ingredients
Sabudana – we have used medium sized tapioca peals which are easily available in Indian grocery stores.
Potatoes – boiled and cut into cubes. By boiling the potatoes in advance, you will not have to cook on the stove. Your khichdi will have a uniform colour rather than browned potatoes with white sabudana. Also no moisture will drip in the khichdi whilst the potato cooks.
Ginger and green chilli – crushed ginger and green chilli
Peanuts – crush some roasted peanuts until coarse.
Curry leaves – adds incredible flavour and should not be skipped.
Sugar – the sweetness is what gives the wonderful Gujarati flavour. Use powdered sugar so that less moisture is released from the sugar (grind regular sugar in a grinder).
Lemon juice – lemon juice and sugar together provide the sweet and sour flavour that is quintessentially Gujarati food.
Coriander leaves – fresh coriander leaves to serve
Cumin Seeds – for the vaghar
Farali Salt – known as Sindhu Mithu in Gujarati or Sendha Namak in Hindi, use this if making it for fasting otherwise use regular salt.
Oil or ghee – use either peanut or sunflower oil if making it for fasts
How to Soak Sabudana
Firstly, wash the sabudana thoroughly in cold running water to remove starch as much as possible. Then lay out flat and pour cold water up until the water just covers the sabudana. Leave to soak overnight, in the morning you should have perfectly soaked sabudana without any water and when you press it should break the sabudana without any pressure. 1 cup raw sabudana yields almost 2 cups soaked sabudana.
Hayley’s Tips
- Use crushed peanuts to help soak up the moisture and prevent the sabudana sticking.
- Adding too much sugar will release moisture and cause the sabudana to become sticky.
- Do not compromise in using oil or ghee. Fat content helps to keep sabudana separate too.
- Once the sabudana mixture is added to the vaghar, turn the heat off.
- Do not stir or cook for long time.
- Add the lemon juice once the heat is off.
Storing
Sabudana khichdi is best eaten as soon as it is made.
However, to store leftovers, wait until it has completely cooled before storing in the fridge.
You may use leftover sabudana khichdi in making Crispy Gujarati Sabudana Vada.
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!
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Sabudana Khichdi
Equipment
- Colander
- Flat tray or thali
- pan or Kadai
Ingredients
- 2 cup sago pearls sabudana (soaked)
- ½ cup peanuts roasted and crushed
- ¾ cup boiled potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1 tablespoon peanuts whole
- 3 tablespoon oil or ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoon ginger-chillies crushed
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon rock salt sendha namak
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon coriander fresh chopped
Instructions
- In a big bowl mix soaked sabudana, potatoes, chilli-ginger, peanuts, sugar and salt.
- In a pan heat oil or ghee.
- Add cumin seeds and peanuts.
- Once cumin seeds splutter add curry leaves.
- Then add sabudana and potato mixture.
- Quickly stir for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
- Add lemon juice and coriander.
- Serve hot.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Note – This recipe has been updated from our recipe archives with new images and content, but the recipe remains the same. First published in April 2012.
