Sri Lankan Dhal curry(parippu, dal, daal).
This Sri Lankan recipe for dhal curry is easy to make and is a regular vegetarian side dish in most Sri Lankan menus.
cooked in Coconut milk with sautéed Onions, Garlic, Curry leaves, Mustard seeds and chilli flecks.
Dhal curry(also written as daal, dal)or as we like to call it in Sinhalese, “Parippu” is a popular dish in Sri Lankan cuisine.
It’s mildly spiced and creamy that most non-spicy food lovers would love it(even kids)!
It is one of the easiest vegan comfort food you can cook under 30 minutes and some of us have no problem eating it every day.
A quick Sri Lankan menu
when you are in a hurry.
When you’ve spent the morning on errands or you’ve just had a full day of chores to finish around the house and you need to make a meal for the kids who’ll be home in an hour. This is it.
Dhal, rice (on the rice cooker of course) and a chicken curry complete the menu for lunch.
Why Dhal curry is a popular
Sri Lankan vegetarian dish.
It’s quick, simple and versatile.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but I’m amazed sometimes at how different the cooked red lentils tastes according to whose cooking it.
Some like the dhal curry(parippu)really spicy with loads of tempering and some like it light and more mild and heavy on the coconut milk.
It’s also a great beginner’s introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine.
Side dishes for dhal(parippu)curry.
The choices are limitless, dhal curry goes with almost any type of side dish, like a really good spicy coconut sambol.
Even if you are not cooking a Sri Lankan feast, you can add dhal(parippu) to almost any meal.
It’s that versatile and compliments any type of dish you serve.
Sometimes I cheat…
As I’ve mentioned earlier, we all have a busy schedule and sometimes doing the smallest thing takes the longest.
Here’s what I do to make the whole cooking process a bit quicker, when I’m making the dhal curry for my family I usually do the tempering as follows.
Instead of removing it to a separate bowl, I just take a spoonful of the tempering ingredients and set it aside.
Then to the pan with the remaining tempering ingredients, I add the red lentils and water.
Cook as normal dhal curry recipe instructions and add the spoon of temper into the cooked dhal curry at the end.
Save the recipe to your favorite Pinterest board!
How much tempering ingredients
should I use for the dhal recipe?
The recipe instructions given below gives you the standard amount of ingredients for tempering.
But for any special events where you want the dhal curry to be served, you can increase the amount of tempering ingredients to give the dhal curry a rich flavor.
What type of lentil is used to
make the vegetarian dhal/dal
curry?
You will be using masoor dhal/dal or red lentils for this recipe, most lentils will need a certain amount of hours of soaking but masoor dhal is quick to cook.
Which makes it easy to cook this popular Sri Lankan recipe under 30 minutes.
So here’s your recipe instruction on how to cook a Sri Lankan dhal curry.
More Dhal/red lentil recipes!
30 minute-tempered lentils with spinach.
Spicy Sri Lankan chilli dhal fry(vegan,vegetarian).
Stop food waste by…
Cooking dhal curry can be quite economical for any large family or gathering if you are on a budget.
A little dhal curry cooked in coconut milk can go a long way.
If you find that you’ve cooked too much dhal what you can do is before you add the coconut milk, save a portion of the cooked dhal and freeze and when you want to use this portion, bring it to room temperature, cook on low fire for 3 minutes and add coconut milk and tempering.
The dhal can be kept for 2 weeks.
If you’ve already added the coconut milk you can freeze for 2-3 days and use it for another meal.
How to make parippu(dal, dhal)curry.
Watch the short video on how to make dhal curry before trying out the recipe.
Ingredients
Please make sure to read the recipe instructions at least once to avoid mistakes.
Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
Tempering ingredients for dhal curry
3 tablespoons oil
1 sprig of Curry leaves
4 pods of Garlic
1 large Onion
a teaspoon of Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli flecks or 2 whole dry red chillies
1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
To cook the dhal curry.
1 cup Dhal
1/2 cup of water
A few of all the other ingredients mentioned for tempering above(turmeric, curry leaves, garlic, onions)
1-2 green chilli
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 cup Coconut milk
Method
Tempering
Cut the large onion and garlic(4 pods)into thin slices and set aside.
Add three tablespoons of oil to a pan, include the curry leaves, sliced garlic, onions, and turmeric powder(1 tsp).
Leave it to cook until the onions turn translucent over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Reduce heat and include the chilli flakes(1 tsp) or 2 whole dried red chillies, once you see the onions turning golden brown, add the mustard seeds(1 tsp)and cook for 2 minutes.
Once all the ingredients turn golden brown, remove the tempered ingredients from the heat and transfer to a separate dish.
How to Cook the dhal curry
Wash the lentils thoroughly.
Turn in the washed lentils/daal(1cup) to the pan you used for tempering(saves washing).
Pour in the water(1/2 cup)with a pinch of turmeric and a few slices of onions, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves.
Over medium heat, let the lentils/daal cook until the water evaporates, this takes 10-15 minutes.
When the lentils are cooked, gradually add the coconut milk(1/2cup)and let it simmer on low fire. 10-15 minutes, add salt to taste.
Finally, add the tempered onions to the curry and mix. if you are serving guests, keep a bit of the tempering, once you add the dhal curry to a serving bowl and top the lentils/dal with the remaining temper for a true, Sri Lankan presentation.
Serve warm with rice and curry.
This Sri Lankan recipe for dhal curry is easy to make and is a regular vegetarian side dish in most Sri Lankan menus. cooked in Coconut milk with sautéed Onions, Garlic, Curry leaves, Mustard seeds and chilli flecks. Tempering How to Cook the dhal curry As an Amazon Associate, I earn a percentage from qualifying purchases.Sri Lankan Dhal curry(parippu-vegan, vegetarian).
Ingredients
Instructions
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It’s free and on the blog, for you to try anytime.
All I ask is that you do not save it on any apps, recipe boxes or online groups which will affect me as a food blogger and the growth of this blog. I would appreciate if you only share the link rather than the full recipe.
How many curry leaves should I use for the dhal curry?
Hi Sarah, apologies for the late reply 4-5 would do.
regards
Where do o find curry leaves in Ireland?
Hi Marie, Maybe an Indian store close to you. I doubt if you can find fresh curry leaves but maybe dried ones? I just googled,” where can I find Curry leaves in ireland”. is there a place called Aldis? they seem to have it but an Indian store would be the best option.
If you find them, turn the binch upside down dry for one day and store them in an air tight container, you can possibly use it for 1-2 weeks. hope this helps.
But if you have absolutely no way of finding it. you can still cook the Dhal curry, I’ve done it a couple of times when I don’t have it around.
In the ingredients list you say 5/6 tablespoons of oil. In the method you say to use 3 tablespoons when tempering the curry leaves, onions, garlic and tumeric. Where does the remaining oil get used? There’s no mention of it after that. Please let me know!
Sorry about that Dominic and thank you for letting me know. will edit the recipe. just use three tablespoons of oil as I will correct the amount on the recipe to show three tablespoons.
This is really good. We ate sri lankan food at a street stall on London’s south bank a few days ago and loved it so I thought I’d try it.
Have done both daal and okra for dinner with friends tonight. Daal.is delicious. I’ll update on the okra 🙂
Hi Geoff,
Thank you for the feedback. glad you liked the dhal curry. please do let me know how the okra turned out.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need help with any of the recipes on the blog.
World you happen to have a dahl recipe that includes Maldives fish? I used to live in Sri Lanka (expat) as a child and remember that as being part of a dahl
Hello Jael,
you can definitely add Maldive fish to the dahl recipe. there are no extra instructions to add Maldive fish to the recipe. all you need to do is add a few shavings of Maldive fish if you are using a solid block or sprinkle a teaspoon of maldive fish powder(available now)to the dahl curry while it boils in water.
hope this helps,please do not hesitate to contact me if you are in need of any further help.
regards
j
In the ingredients you mention 1-2 green chilliest but these are not included in the instructions. At what stage do the green chillies need to be added? Thank you.
Hello Anne,
Thank you for spotting the error and letting me know. recipe amended. the green chillies go in while you cook the dhal. I have also added a sidee note on the curry leaves. Half to be used for tempering and half while cooking the dhal, this would be 4 leaves each. hope this helps.
Please contact me if you need further help with the recipe.
regards,
J
Hi, how many people does this dish serve?
Tracey Herman recently posted…spicy pineapple curry | Sri Lankan, sinhalease style.
Hi Tracey Herman< I've made this spicy Pineapple curry using a medium-sized Pineapple. Usually, with other side-dishes being served, you can serve 3 adults who might serve the curry twice. if it's a single serve per adult then 4 people can be served. Hope this helps, please reach out if you have any further questions regarding the recipe. regards, J