Punjabi Langar Wali Dal Amritsari Dal

This humble dal is also known as Amritsari Dal or Maa Chole ki Dal or just langar dal. Whenever I make this dal, I am reminded of days when my dad was posted in Chandigarh and we often visited the gurudwara near our home to relish the soul warming langar meals there. Punjabi black lentils are love and I have shared many recipes such as dal makhani, dal bukhara, dal maharani and sabut masoor dal in the past.

What Is Langar Wali Dal

In Indian culture, dal- roti aka lentil & flatbread is considered one of the most basic meal that one can eat or serve. Langar dal is a slow simmered lentil dish that is served at community meals in gurudwaras - places of worship for the Sikh community. Cooks or volunteers take turns to mash and stir the langar dal while it slow cooks for long hours, sometimes the entire day. Gurudwaras have langar or community kitchen where fresh meals are prepared by volunteers as part of seva (charity). Langar serves free of charge meals to everybody who wishes to eat. It is a beautiful concept of breaking bread together, regardless of race or religion.

About My Recipe

My mom used to make langar wali dal often especially during winters and quite magically she was able to replicate the flavorful gurudwara taste even in a small batch. I use two kinds of lentils to make dal amritsari - whole black gram lentils (sabut urad dal) and bengal gran lentils (chana dal). You can use split black urad as well if you wish. Some people call whole urad lentils as maah ki dal and chana dal as chole ki dal. That is why this dal is also called maa choleyian di dal in punjabi communities. I use no powdered spices except a little bit of red chili powder. This is a very simple dal made with basic ingredients found in your kitchen. I cook it in ghee, however in langars it is cooked in oil. The base flavors in my langar dal recipe are from onions, tomatoes, green chilies and ginger. I do add a little garlic but it can easily be skipped. Chopped onions and tomatoes give such a wonderful rustic texture to the dal. I use pressure cooker for boiling the lentils, however you can use your instant pot. The most important part of making this dal is regular stirring or ghotna. Stirring while simmering makes this dal creamy without any addition of heavy cream. The taste of resulting dal is earthy and mellow- really fragrant & super comforting! Langar dal isn’t heavily spicy or tangy or tomatoey - it has a prominent sweetish creamy taste of lentils itself and ofcourse, ghee. I like to keep texture of langar dal creamy but not mushy. Few of the lentil grains hold their shape and you would spot bits of ginger tomatoes and onions etc in the finished dish.

Ingredients For Langar Dal

Ingredients

You can use split black urad dal, also known as dhuli urad chilka. I like using whole black urad for two reasons 1)The skin and whole grain of the lentils gives an amazing consistency without the finished dal becoming slimy. 2) whole black urad has a robust earthy taste compared to split variety, it makes langar dal taste much more hearty. You can use unsalted butter in place of ghee. Or use mustard oil (or any neutral cooking oil). Hing or Asafoetida is a unique “stinky” spice used in indian cooking especially for tempering. In its uncooked form, hing is strong and quite unpleasant in aroma, however the spice just transforms the moment it is added to hot oil or ghee. A little goes a long way! You can easily find hing in indian stores. In some regional indian cuisines, it is even used to replace or imitate taste of onion and garlic in recipes. You can guess that hing has a great umani taste. If you want to use canned tomatoes in this recipe, I suggest using fire roasted tomatoes for a nice smoky touch. However don’t add too many tomatoes. Use paprika instead of red chili powder(or cayenne) for less heat.

See recipe card for ingredient quantities.

How To Make Langar Wali Dal

Soak The Lentils

Measure and soak the urad lentils in enough water overnight. It is enough to soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours only. You can soak it in the morning or afternoon depending on whether you are making this dal for lunch or dinner. Soaking not just softens the lentils but makes them easily digestible as well. I always saw grandma & mom soak beans and lentils before cooking and I do the same by default.

Boil The Lentils

Add soaked lentils to a pressure cooker with salt, water and bayleaf. Cook for 5-6 whistles in a presuure cooker till the lentils are soft but hold shape (this is very important) else the dal will become slimy. Tip:- If you are not that confident about pressure cooking, let cook for 3-4 whistles. Then, open the cooker lid and check by pressing a grain between your thumb and index finger. If you feel that the dal is not soft, add little water, cover and let them cook without pressure on low stove. This way you can avoid dal from getting mushy.

Prepare for tempering

While the lentils are pressure cooking, chop the onions, ginger and tomatoes.Chop them such that they soften and cook down but dont become pasty by the end of cooking.

Temper & Slow Cook Langar Dal

Temper the dal (instructions are in recipe card) and then slow simmer it for at least 35-40 minutes. The dal will thicken as it cooks and as you stir the dal from time to time, it will achieve a silky smooth consistency. Stirring the dal as it cooks is an super step in this recipe contributing to the final texture and taste of dal so please do take your time to do it.

What kind of pot is the best for cooking

I cannot talk enough about the role of the cooking utensils. Use a heavy, wide mouthed pot for making langar dal. I like using my dutch oven but you can use any heavy pot or kadai with lid if you do not have dutch oven. I would recommend using enameled cast iron pots. A heavy pot conducts heat better (hence the dal cooks evenly) and wide mouth of the pot helps a lot while stirring the dal. Avoid using non stick or ceramic pots.

Making Langar Wali Dal in Instant Pot

Select the saute made on your IP and add the ghee. Temper with cumin, dried chiles and hing. Add onions and lightly brown them. Next add the red chili powder, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and saute for 5-6 minutes till tomatoes beginto soften. Add the lentils, salt and water. Secure the lid and secure the pressure valve. Cook for 30-35 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid and stir and simmer the dal for 5-6 minutes on saute mode. You can adjust the consistency with hot water if needed at this point.

Serving Suggestions & Storage

Langar wali dal is best served with warm rotis or naan, some sliced onions and yogurt (if you wish). Add a knob of butter to warm dal before serving, tastes amazing. Dal goes well with steamed or cumin rice as well. If you want, you can make a simple sabzi like aloo matar to go along. This dal tastes better the next day. I always plan leftovers. You can easily freeze the dal for 1-2 months. Portion out the dal and freeze in ziplock bags (flatenned) or in disposable containers. Thaw, add a little ghee or butter, reheat and serve.

Few Tips & Variations

Use lentils that aren’t too old (more than 3 months). I have learnt this the hard way. Previously, I used to bulk buy thinking that lentils & beans have long shelf life. As they sit in our pantry, they definitely deteriorate in taste and do not soften easily when we cook them. Like most dal, this dal will thicken too as it cools down.When you are simmering the dal, keep in mind to not make it too thick. Dont skimp on ghee. This recipe of langar dal is very simple and uses few ingredients, and good quantity of ghee makes it taste so delicious and of course fragrant. If you skimp on ghee, the lentils might taste boiled. I highly recommend finishing with butter. You can skip the onion and garlic in this recipe and add a generous amount of hing to the tadka. However, the taste will be quite different. Punjabi dals do have a unique taste from use of onions and garlic. To infuse smoky flavor, you can add some dhungar to the dal by burning a small piece of coal, adding it to a bowl and place it on dal. Drizzle few drops of ghee on hot charcoal. Immediately close the lid and let the dal smoke for 8-9 minutes. It is easy to make Langar dal vegan friendly by using any neutral oil (avocado or grape seed) or vegan butter to make the tempering. Please don’t use coconut oil. Punjabi lentil dishes have a unique taste which does not come through with coconut.