Brown Butter Lentils

1 week ago 6

Democracy Dies successful Darkness

4.0 (82)

By G. Daniela Galarza

Quick-cooking reddish lentils are enriched with brownish food and seasoned with lukewarm spices successful this saltation of masoor dal. Inspired by the precocious cook Floyd Cardoz’s layering of spices and chiles, cookbook writer Madhur Jaffrey’s penchant for browned onions, and cookbook writer and blogger Archana Mundhe’s usage of herb and jaggery, this humble cookware of stewed legumes sings. Use caller tomatoes, if you can; adjacent out-of-season greenhouse tomatoes volition adhd a bright, vegetal element. A small spot of tadka, a spice- and aromatic-infused abdominous (in this lawsuit brownish butter), tops each bowl, giving the crockery a pleasant, nutty aroma. Though optional, if you person entree to dried, caller oregon frozen curry leaves, see adding a fewer to the tadka for an particularly heady fragrance.

From unit writer G. Daniela Galarza.

Ingredients

measuring cup

Servings: 4 (makes 5 cups)

For the tadka

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 tiny yellowish bulb (2 ounces total), halved and thinly sliced
Pinch good salt
4 to 6 curry leaves, caller oregon dried (optional; spot Where to buy)

For the lentils

One (1-inch) portion caller ginger, finely grated
1/2 spoon crushed turmeric
1/2 spoon crushed coriander
1/2 spoon crushed cumin
1/4 spoon crushed cinnamon
Pinch crushed cardamom (optional)
1 cupful grated oregon diced caller herb (from 2 to 3 ripe plum tomatoes; spot Substitutions)
1 cupful dried divided reddish lentils (masoor dal), rinsed and drained
3 cups water, positive much arsenic needed
1/4 spoon good salt, positive much arsenic needed
1 tiny reddish oregon greenish chile, specified arsenic serrano oregon bird’s-eye, stemmed, halved and seeded (optional)
1 tablespoonful jaggery oregon airy brownish sweetener (optional)
Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
Cooked basmati rice, for serving (optional)
Warm flatbreads, specified arsenic naan, roti oregon pita, for serving (optional)

Nutritional Facts

Per serving (1 1/4 cups lentils positive 1 tablespoonful tadka)

Calories
310
Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Carbohydrates
37 g
Sodium
190 mg
Cholesterol
31 mg
Protein
13 g
Fiber
8 g
Sugar
2 g

This investigation is an estimation based connected disposable ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s oregon nutritionist’s advice.

From unit writer G. Daniela Galarza.

Tested by Jacob Brogan.

Published March 12, 2025

Updated March 18, 2026