North Indian
Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Medley)
Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Medley) is North Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the protein alongside. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup toor dal
- 1/4 cup chana dal
- 1/4 cup yellow moong dal
- 1/4 cup masoor dal
- 1/4 cup whole urad dal
- 4.5 cups water
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 1 onion
- 2 tomato
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Rinse all five lentils together and pressure cook them with turmeric, salt, and water until soft, then mash lightly.
- Heat the ghee in a pan and let the cumin seeds and dried red chilies sizzle, then add the garlic and ginger.
- Add the onion and cook until golden, then stir in the tomato, coriander, red chili powder, and garam masala and cook until soft.
- Pour in the cooked dal, add a little hot water to loosen, and simmer for 8 minutes.
- Finish with cilantro and serve.
Serve it with
A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Medley), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Medley) carries dairy. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | Yes | Masala Omelette |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses, Vegetables, and Dairy
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Panchmel Dal (Five Lentil Medley) takes about 45 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on mixed lentils, tomato, and ghee.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from North India, South India, West India, East India, and Northeast India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.