I went to an Indian grocery store and the prices were very reasonable. All the spices, pickles, dals and chickpeas are overwhelming. I grabbed a bunch to see what I liked which brough me to your video. Thank you for posting! Beautiful kitchen by the way.
The big eye opener for me is how “generic” the term lentil is. In US stores, there are basically three colors of the same legume. Beans, for instance, would not be thought of in the same category. Thankfully, I have a great Indian market in my area. I can function with the specific names written down.
Very informative, thank you! Super useful for the non-natives who love the culinary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. One nitpicking note: “dal” is a broader term than “lentils” and includes lentils, beans, and peas. The English equivalent is “legumes“ (even more pedantically - “pulses”). The distinction becomes important for Europeans, b/c the translation to “green lentils “ is always interpreted as the flat disk pulse, not mung beans.
Dear Chetna, a superb run-down! I so agree: home-soaked chickpeas are best, a great use for a neglected pressure cooker (or Instant Pot, Ninja, etc.). I find dried ones approximately double in weight after a 6-8 hour soak, so 125g dried = about 250g cooked, the drained weight of a 400g can. Many recipes, especially American, mention only the canned version, but soaking is almost zero effort anyway (best in a fridge in warm weather, to limit unintended fermentation).
Loved this! I just realized moong dal us also known as mung beans! Would also love a vid explaining how and when you choose to add certain spices. I get confused why certain ones aren’t added in the beginning with the oil and added later etc.
Woah! Finally I get excited about lentils because I hear a great teacher showing lentil- dummy- me these delicious beans! Yum Yum and a big "Thank You"...Teacher😂❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Hello Chetna, I just love everything about lentils. When an Indian friend started teaching me how to cook food from southern India, I went out and found every different kind of lentil I could. Love their simplicity and their beauty. Love having them in the pantry. Unfortunately, a mouse got into them so I have to get containers like you have and restock. 🙄😃 Great rundown!
As someone who wants to introduce lentils into our diet, I’ve been overwhelmed by how many kinds I see in the store! Thank you for the rundown on the varieties.
Omg I always thought Chana dal was the same as our yellow split peas and have been using those instead for years 🤦 the diversity of pulses is just amazing, I love them
Thank you so much, this was fascinating. I’ve always wanted a lentil explanation, will feel more confident cooking Dal in the future. Absolutely love your channel ❤
I am not that kind of person who thinks What am I going to cook tomorrow? So I mostly use red lentils because they cook quickly even without soaking. I also have some chana dal and chickpeas, but I use them only rarely. Your "collection" of dals is very impressive 🙂
Hi Chetna, I love Indian food but have never cooked it. Now due to health reasons I'm trying different things and your video so far is great and an eye opener on the different varieties of lentils. I will try some of your recipes soon. Thank you.
Thanks Chetna. I have mainly used red lentils for dhal and chick peas for chole. We were on holiday in Amritsar and it was served at breakfast so I asked the chef for the recipe. I have this mysterious box of yellow lentils in the cupboard which has been there for some time. I am not sure if it’s Channa or Toor. I might take it to our Indian grocer for identification….. thanks for the video.
When you have time - please consider creating a separate playlist for all the lentils/dals videos I know you have VEGETARIAN RECIPES playlist and dals can be found there after scrolling through all the other vegetable curries in the same playlist That would be helpful. Thanks in advance 🙏
Thank you for this video, it’s really nice to learn about the different types of lentils. Also, thank you for bringing up the issue of recipes which only mention “yellow split lentils” - I came across a few of those and after a couple of fails I gave up on recipes that didn’t clearly specify which type of bean or lentil to use. Love your channel 😊
Good breakdown. Problem is so many different names for things. UK English US English use different terms. Various names in different Indian languages let alone other languages around the world. Useful video. Well done
This made me wonder which are the lentils I use for my tarka dal. They’re sold as red lentils in spain but they look very small compared to the Masoor dal you showed. But they also turn bright yellow once cooked. Their flavour I’d say is kind of root like, quite a bit starchy and very earthy and overall every time I eat them I can imagine I’m literally eating the beginning stage of a plant maybe like s sprout of some sort. I just love them so much! Great video! Really makes me want to get a hold on every kind of dal I can find! Hehehe
Thank you so much! I have been collecting lentils and beans, making dal and Indian snacks with them but I really wasn't sure about the difference between them all and how they are used in cooking. I was really wondering too. I buy a lot of them from our local Indian Foods market. So healthy and delicious I am enjoying experimenting and learning.
Hi Chetna, I love watching your recipe videos. I love the way you present Indian recipes in English and make it sound all so easy to cook them. I wanted to know what containers are you using for storage in you kitchen pantry. i am trying to reorganise mine, but cannot makeup my mind.
Chetna, thank you so much! This is like a class on beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils. 😃 You answered many of my questions. I just got an order today of various lentils and beans, including some special varieties (Black Beluga lentils and Harvest Gold lentils). Time for a tasting of pulses! ❤🫘🫛😋
Fun video. I would ask A) why not whole pigeon pea, why only split as toor dal? 1) whey Besan? Why not other dal flours? And) Maybe some side-by-side dishes? Channa Dal only one version is the chickpea and the other the only change use the black eyes peas (for instance) and show the differences? Yes, there are a LOT of variety of legumes :) One red split dal I have yet to try that my local store has is a small split lentil that instead of the flat pale orange is vibrantly deep red-orange with greater shape. It's a few dollars more than my comfort level but certainly on my "will try" list :)
I love the sound of those red kidney bean burgers - I hope they will feature in a video on your channel, Chetna! Or if not, maybe in one of your books? Thank you so much for this - I certainly would have made the mistake you describe about using whole mung beans and then complaining that they didn't cook in time!
I love your vibrant radiant refreshing energy. I'm struggling to make asian bread properly can you show us how you make healthy roty out of the lentils any of the them really. Thank you Lovely
Thanks for the video! It used to be very complicated for me to differentiated all the kinds of dals, specially when they come in whole and split but are considered different for different reasons ( like the cooking time like you explained) In Spain we consume a lot of brown lentils, but I don't think they are the same as the Masoor you showed. We have one that's called pardina which is smaller and then a bigger one called Castellana. We do have the split red kind, although they are marked as "bio" and are considerably more expensive for some reason. I was lucky to find a small store in my city that sells Moong, Urid, Masoor and chana dal. It does't have toor dal though but at least now I can try some recipes.
We have masoor dal which is actually brown lentils but here in UK you also find green lentils which is similar to masoor. I use both of these in the recipes which I've shown :D
Are the green lentils you show also called mung beans? They are used for bean sprouts. When I think of green lentils I think of French green lentils or LePuy. They are really delicious and stay whole during cooking making for great salads. Try them.
Hi Chetna another interesting blog. Can I ask you where you got those storage containers please as not seen them ones before. Also do you not live in the uk. Your blogs brings back so many memories of Indian cooking and Asian super markets parents use to go to and get the items you share in blog. Have you ever made yuca I can’t remember the Punjabi name for it but know my parents use to buy it and boil it and have it with tiny bit off salt on it. Is there a blog on how to make garbeji on your channel. ( cabbage).
Oily toor or arhar dal is coated with a thin film of oil and sun dried. This protects the lentils from insect pests. The milling of whole beans into split lentils has been an ancient practice in India. The break in curvature reduces the ability of insects to lay eggs as compared to whole lentils. Our forefathers were indeed brilliant and understood insect behaviour.
In your Masala urad dal Do you use the whole black version or the shelled yellow ones :) i had only seen the yellow version and not realised may actually need black 😮😊
I just moved to the us and trust me when I say this I cannot live without my dal 😢 it’s been my comfort food back in India I did not realise how much it meant
Very useful video Chetna, thank you. Just wondering about one thing… I’ve seen Toor Dal sold as either plain/dry or oily? I’m guessing you use the plain and curious what the difference is?
Love this Chetna. Very helpful, thanks so much! I had a friend from India tell me that Toor dal was better than meat.😂 It was nice to hear your thoughts on it as well.
Very good video! I cook with a lot of these and the family loves them all! I’m curious to know which one of the dals would be good mixed with sautéed onions as a stuffing for paratha’s, or flatbreads in general? Also could you substitute one for chickpeas in falafel?
you can actually watch my dal paratha video for that but to tell you now its - Moong spilt (yellow) or Toor or red lentils all these will work really well
I went to an Indian grocery store and the prices were very reasonable. All the spices, pickles, dals and chickpeas are overwhelming. I grabbed a bunch to see what I liked which brough me to your video. Thank you for posting! Beautiful kitchen by the way.
Thanks
Would you consider doing a recipe for each type of lentil?
These in my opinion are great opinions to have as food storage.
I often cook up a full bag of kidney beans or chickpeas in the instant pot and freeze in portions equivalent to a can - really convenient
The big eye opener for me is how “generic” the term lentil is. In US stores, there are basically three colors of the same legume. Beans, for instance, would not be thought of in the same category. Thankfully, I have a great Indian market in my area. I can function with the specific names written down.
thats great
Very informative, thank you! Super useful for the non-natives who love the culinary traditions of the Indian subcontinent. One nitpicking note: “dal” is a broader term than “lentils” and includes lentils, beans, and peas. The English equivalent is “legumes“ (even more pedantically - “pulses”). The distinction becomes important for Europeans, b/c the translation to “green lentils “ is always interpreted as the flat disk pulse, not mung beans.
Dear Chetna, a superb run-down! I so agree: home-soaked chickpeas are best, a great use for a neglected pressure cooker (or Instant Pot, Ninja, etc.). I find dried ones approximately double in weight after a 6-8 hour soak, so 125g dried = about 250g cooked, the drained weight of a 400g can. Many recipes, especially American, mention only the canned version, but soaking is almost zero effort anyway (best in a fridge in warm weather, to limit unintended fermentation).
Loved this! I just realized moong dal us also known as mung beans! Would also love a vid explaining how and when you choose to add certain spices. I get confused why certain ones aren’t added in the beginning with the oil and added later etc.
So great. This is the lentil encyclopedia we’ve been looking for!🎉
Woah! Finally I get excited about lentils because I hear a great teacher showing lentil- dummy- me these delicious beans! Yum Yum and a big "Thank You"...Teacher😂❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Hope you enjoy
This is an awesome video! You should do a dal only cookbook! Do dry chick peas need to be cooked after soaking before using in salads?
Yes they do.
Hello Chetna, I just love everything about lentils. When an Indian friend started teaching me how to cook food from southern India, I went out and found every different kind of lentil I could. Love their simplicity and their beauty. Love having them in the pantry. Unfortunately, a mouse got into them so I have to get containers like you have and restock. 🙄😃 Great rundown!
As someone who wants to introduce lentils into our diet, I’ve been overwhelmed by how many kinds I see in the store! Thank you for the rundown on the varieties.
🙏🏽
Chetna this is the best explanation of the various dals I've seen for quite some time. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
My pleasure 😊
Awesome video ❤ and information ❤
Omg I always thought Chana dal was the same as our yellow split peas and have been using those instead for years 🤦 the diversity of pulses is just amazing, I love them
Thank you!!! This sounds like a book that is needed!!!💕🥰
😂
Thank you for such a comprehensive and clear overview. Really useful. Cheers 🎉
Thank you so much, this was fascinating. I’ve always wanted a lentil explanation, will feel more confident cooking Dal in the future. Absolutely love your channel ❤
So enjoyable and I learned so much. Love to see you make meals with each of these. Excellent lesson!
I am not that kind of person who thinks What am I going to cook tomorrow? So I mostly use red lentils because they cook quickly even without soaking. I also have some chana dal and chickpeas, but I use them only rarely. Your "collection" of dals is very impressive 🙂
Thanks
Hi Chetna, I love Indian food but have never cooked it. Now due to health reasons I'm trying different things and your video so far is great and an eye opener on the different varieties of lentils. I will try some of your recipes soon. Thank you.
Thanks Chetna. I have mainly used red lentils for dhal and chick peas for chole. We were on holiday in Amritsar and it was served at breakfast so I asked the chef for the recipe. I have this mysterious box of yellow lentils in the cupboard which has been there for some time. I am not sure if it’s Channa or Toor. I might take it to our Indian grocer for identification….. thanks for the video.
When you have time - please consider creating a separate playlist for all the lentils/dals videos
I know you have VEGETARIAN RECIPES playlist and dals can be found there after scrolling through all the other vegetable curries in the same playlist
That would be helpful. Thanks in advance 🙏
I agree, that would be so useful.
Thankyou
🙏🏽🙏🏽
I make healthy wraps with red lentils. I also absolutely love your Chana dal recipes, thank you Chetna.
Wow! Thank you so much for doing this Chetna 💗
My pleasure 😊
Thank you Chetna , this video was really helpful x
Thank you so much for all this information on dal!
Great Video! I like your tall containers.
thanks
Thank you for this video, it’s really nice to learn about the different types of lentils. Also, thank you for bringing up the issue of recipes which only mention “yellow split lentils” - I came across a few of those and after a couple of fails I gave up on recipes that didn’t clearly specify which type of bean or lentil to use. Love your channel 😊
Thanks and glad you enjoyed this
Good breakdown. Problem is so many different names for things. UK English US English use different terms. Various names in different Indian languages let alone other languages around the world. Useful video. Well done
This made me wonder which are the lentils I use for my tarka dal. They’re sold as red lentils in spain but they look very small compared to the Masoor dal you showed. But they also turn bright yellow once cooked.
Their flavour I’d say is kind of root like, quite a bit starchy and very earthy and overall every time I eat them I can imagine I’m literally eating the beginning stage of a plant maybe like s sprout of some sort. I just love them so much!
Great video! Really makes me want to get a hold on every kind of dal I can find! Hehehe
I was looking for information on lentils, the different types etc. So glad I come across your video.
Thank you so much! I have been collecting lentils and beans, making dal and Indian snacks with them but I really wasn't sure about the difference between them all and how they are used in cooking. I was really wondering too. I buy a lot of them from our local Indian Foods market. So healthy and delicious I am enjoying experimenting and learning.
🙏🏽🙏🏽
Thanks a lot 🎉❤😊
You're welcome 😊
WOW LEARNT SOMETHING NEW RE: DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF DAAL INFO. VERY USEFUL INDEED! THANK YOU🙏🌷💕
My pleasure
Hi Chetna, I love watching your recipe videos. I love the way you present Indian recipes in English and make it sound all so easy to cook them. I wanted to know what containers are you using for storage in you kitchen pantry. i am trying to reorganise mine, but cannot makeup my mind.
Love red lentils always always have them in the pantry
Wow, that was fascinating. I didn't know there were so many different Lentils available. I only have Red and Yellow Split, I need to up my game! 😉🙏
Chetna, thank you so much! This is like a class on beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils. 😃 You answered many of my questions. I just got an order today of various lentils and beans, including some special varieties (Black Beluga lentils and Harvest Gold lentils). Time for a tasting of pulses! ❤🫘🫛😋
yeah
Thanks so much! I’ve been cooking with beans for many years and this really cleared up a lot as to why certain recipes never worked well.
I like your dal storage containers. They look like they use space efficiently. Can you tell me what brand they are or where to find some?
thank you very much for your video, can u make the similar video about millets?😊
Great suggestion!
Fun video. I would ask A) why not whole pigeon pea, why only split as toor dal? 1) whey Besan? Why not other dal flours? And) Maybe some side-by-side dishes? Channa Dal only one version is the chickpea and the other the only change use the black eyes peas (for instance) and show the differences? Yes, there are a LOT of variety of legumes :) One red split dal I have yet to try that my local store has is a small split lentil that instead of the flat pale orange is vibrantly deep red-orange with greater shape. It's a few dollars more than my comfort level but certainly on my "will try" list :)
Absolutely love lentil
I love the sound of those red kidney bean burgers - I hope they will feature in a video on your channel, Chetna! Or if not, maybe in one of your books? Thank you so much for this - I certainly would have made the mistake you describe about using whole mung beans and then complaining that they didn't cook in time!
If you have not made Chetna's rajma, I highly recommend it!
Great informative post. I learnt about Kala Chana.
Very helpful thank you 🙏🇬🇧🩷
You are welcome
You're a great teacher 😊
Great info thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Thankyou for sharing useful video
Useful 👌
Gteat tutorial, thanks! I love lentils but only know a couple of ways to use them, so iI ook forward to exploring your recipes for more lentil dishes.
I love lentils & legumes & Indian spices, so your video is very informative. Thank you very much.
Very interesting!
Very helpful, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
I love your vibrant radiant refreshing energy. I'm struggling to make asian bread properly can you show us how you make healthy roty out of the lentils any of the them really.
Thank you Lovely
roti out of lentils? you will have to use some flour in it.....
Fascinating, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Wow thank you so much excellent 👌 for sharing 😊
Thanks for the clarification. We needed that. Enjoy yr day.😊
Thank you so much. Very helpful information.
So so useful
Many thanks 🙏
Thank you. And I love your canisters.
👍🏼
I needed this - thank u
you are welcome
Thanks it was very informative
Especially looking for a urad Dahl recipe. ( split) lemon rice sounds interesting.
Thanks for the video! It used to be very complicated for me to differentiated all the kinds of dals, specially when they come in whole and split but are considered different for different reasons ( like the cooking time like you explained)
In Spain we consume a lot of brown lentils, but I don't think they are the same as the Masoor you showed. We have one that's called pardina which is smaller and then a bigger one called Castellana. We do have the split red kind, although they are marked as "bio" and are considerably more expensive for some reason. I was lucky to find a small store in my city that sells Moong, Urid, Masoor and chana dal. It does't have toor dal though but at least now I can try some recipes.
We have masoor dal which is actually brown lentils but here in UK you also find green lentils which is similar to masoor. I use both of these in the recipes which I've shown :D
Thank you so much! That’s exactly what I was looking for 🙏
thank you . really helpfull . this will make shopping a whole lot easier.
Thank you for this video. Very educational!
Very very helpful, thank you soooo much
Very useful. Thank you
Are the green lentils you show also called mung beans? They are used for bean sprouts. When I think of green lentils I think of French green lentils or LePuy. They are really delicious and stay whole during cooking making for great salads. Try them.
Hi Chetna another interesting blog. Can I ask you where you got those storage containers please as not seen them ones before. Also do you not live in the uk. Your blogs brings back so many memories of Indian cooking and Asian super markets parents use to go to and get the items you share in blog. Have you ever made yuca I can’t remember the Punjabi name for it but know my parents use to buy it and boil it and have it with tiny bit off salt on it. Is there a blog on how to make garbeji on your channel. ( cabbage).
Thank you ❤️☺️
You’re welcome 😊
Very useful thank you
Vey helpful, thanks Chetna. One question - I've seen oily toor and dry toor in Asian shops - what's the difference? Love your recipes!
Oily toor or arhar dal is coated with a thin film of oil and sun dried. This protects the lentils from insect pests. The milling of whole beans into split lentils has been an ancient practice in India. The break in curvature reduces the ability of insects to lay eggs as compared to whole lentils. Our forefathers were indeed brilliant and understood insect behaviour.
Thanks so much for this. I would really love if you put time stamps on this video if you can ❤
Thank you! This was so helpful.
Do you also use red moong? Any recipes with it?
Tanks! ❤
Thank you
Great vid! Would love some meal prep ideas for using lentils for /with salads for work lunches etc (cold). Xx
In your Masala urad dal
Do you use the whole black version or the shelled yellow ones :) i had only seen the yellow version and not realised may actually need black 😮😊
Thank you so much for this! ❤
Thank You, Chetna
I just moved to the us and trust me when I say this I cannot live without my dal 😢 it’s been my comfort food back in India I did not realise how much it meant
what about green lentils? can you do a recipe for it?
sure
Are the green lentils you show also called mung beans? They are used for bean sprouts.
This is the best, I'm just starting to get into dal and I couldn't love it more. Thank you!
Very useful video Chetna, thank you.
Just wondering about one thing… I’ve seen Toor Dal sold as either plain/dry or oily? I’m guessing you use the plain and curious what the difference is?
Thank you Chetna
You are welcome 😊
Love the storage containers, where are they available from? Love your recipes.
Hi Chetna
How long would the whole urad dal take to cook in a pan if you don’t have a pressure cooker?
around 40-45 mins or more
@@FoodwithChetna Thank you😊
Love this Chetna. Very helpful, thanks so much! I had a friend from India tell me that Toor dal was better than meat.😂 It was nice to hear your thoughts on it as well.
Urad dhuli is ideal for making dahi bhallas-- Ummm Punjabi cooking rocks 👍🤪
Hi Chetna!! Can you please share the recipe of burger patty using rajma? TIA
Which Dal do you use to make sprouted mung / bean sprouts for salads?
Very good video! I cook with a lot of these and the family loves them all! I’m curious to know which one of the dals would be good mixed with sautéed onions as a stuffing for paratha’s, or flatbreads in general? Also could you substitute one for chickpeas in falafel?
you can actually watch my dal paratha video for that but to tell you now its -
Moong spilt (yellow)
or Toor
or red lentils
all these will work really well
@@FoodwithChetna👍🏽🥰
Very good and
informative.
Now I know the difference between lentils and grams. I think😂