7 Types Of Dal Dishes Across India You Must Know About

By Krati Purwar

April 25 2024

Whether summer or winter, dal is a staple in Indian households. It is a comfort food when paired with a dry stir-fry, roti, and rice. The interesting aspect is that different regions in India prepare it differently. Here are seven dal preparations that you must try out. 

Gujarati Dal

This dal preparation includes boiling toor dal and loading it with the tempering of peanuts, mustard seeds, curry leaves, tamarind water, and fenugreek seeds.

Tidali Dal

Tidali dal is the Sindh-style preparation in which chana, split green moong, and urad pulses are cooked in turmeric powder, tomatoes, ginger, and green chillies.

Amti

Amti is the Maharashtrian dal preparation in which the pulses are cooked in jaggery powder, tamarind pulp, green chillies, turmeric powder, and curry leaves to elevate the flavour.

Cholar Dal

Cholar dal is prepared in West Bengal and surrounding states. Chana dal has a thick consistency in this recipe and is tempered with Indian spices.

Sambar

Believe it or not, sambar is a kind of dal preparation only in which pulses are cooked with different vegetables and topped with a tempering of dry red chillies and mustard seeds.

Dal Makhani

Dal makhani is a popular dal preparation in Punjab and North India. The whole black urad dal is cooked with rajma. Add butter and fresh cream to take its richness up a notch.  

Panchratna Dal

Panchratna dal is prepared by cooking masoor, moong, urad, toor, and chana pulses. It is a creamy, rich, and spicy preparation, quite famous in North and Central India.