Moong Dal Paratha | Indian Lentil Flatbread

Moong dal paratha is an Indian lentil flatbread stuffed with a mixture of cooked lentils and spices. Dal paratha can also be made using various other types of dals like chana dal, toor dal, green moong dal, or masoor dal.

It is easy to make and is a nutritious vegan lunch or dinner idea. At times leftover dal can also be used to make dal paratha and that makes a quick Indian breakfast.

Ingredients

Moong dal paratha requires basic ingredients found in the Indian kitchen pantry. The best part is that it can be customized to suit your taste.

For the filling you will need moong dal, onion, ginger garlic paste, and some serrano pepper for spiciness. Some Indian spices like whole red chili, cumin seeds, coriander powder, turmeric, and optionally hing are added to enhance the taste.

For the dough, whole wheat flour, nigella seeds, salt, oil, and water is all you will need. A dollop of butter can be applied on the top of paratha while serving.

Instructions

To make this dal paratha recipe, you will first need to make the stuffing. You can use leftover dal and heat it up to make it thick in consistency. You can also cook dal in an electric pressure cooker like Instant Pot or on the stovetop.

Stuffing

First, rinse the moong dal well with water until water runs clear. Turn the Instant Pot on Saute mode on the normal setting. Once the pot is hot, add some oil followed by whole red chili, cumin seeds, asafoetida, and ginger garlic paste.

Saute for about 30 seconds and then add moong dal, water, turmeric powder, and salt. Deglaze the pot with the help of a spatula. Close the lid and cook dal on high-pressure mode for 4 minutes followed by a natural pressure release.

You can also saute the spices on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat and then add moong dal, water, and salt. You will need about 2 cups of water to cook on the stovetop.

Let the moong dal cool down and then add some chopped onions and green chilies. You can adjust spiciness and salt as per your liking.

Usually, I make two-halves of the cooked dal. One half is for my kids, to which I do not add onions and peppers as they don't like it. The other half is of course for the grown-ups and contains all the ingredients.

Dough

The dough can be made in a food processor, stand mixer, bread maker or by hand. Ensure that the dough is well kneaded and soft. If it sticks to your hand while making a ball then it needs more flour.

You can check out this post on how to make dough in the stand mixer.

Paratha

Take a small amount of dough and make a ball (close to 1.5 inches in diameter) by rolling and pressing between your palms. If you are using a digital food scale take about 45 grams of dough.

Dust the ball with dry flour and using a rolling pin roll into a disc of about 5 inches in diameter.

Take about 3 tablespoon full or 50 grams of dal mixture and place at the center of the rolled disc. Now lift all the sides of the disc and club it at the center and remove any additional dough from the top.

You want to form an even flattened ball of dough with the moong dal stuffing inside it. Now coat the stuffed dough disc with dry flour and roll it into an even disc of about 6-7 inches. Keep using dry flour as needed.

Gently lift the rolled disc and place it on a hot skillet, and a medium-high flame. I prefer to use the cast iron skillet to make the parathas.

Cook one side for about 15 - 20 seconds (this may vary depending on how hot the skillet is) until you see a few golden brown spots. Flip it with the help of a wide spatula and cook the other side for about 30 seconds or until a few golden spots can be seen.

Apply oil on both the semi-cooked sides flipping alternately and cook until the sides are golden brown and well done. Take it off the flame, put it on a plate using the spatula and it is ready to be served.

Substitutions

Dal - you can use any lentils like chana dal, toor dal, green moong dal, mixed, dal, or red lentils to make dal paratha.

Vegan - to make it vegan use oil or vegan butter while cooking and serving.

Variations

Spicy - you can make it more or less spicy by adjusting the amount of serrano peppers.

Leftover dal paratha - you can thicken any leftover dal and use it to make the filling.

Palak dal paratha - add some chopped spinach to the stuffing mixture to make palak dal paratha.

Serving suggestions

Moong dal paratha can be served with pickles like green mango pickle, green chili pickle, or sweet-sour spicy Indian chutneys like mango chutney, tomato chutney, or grape chutney, and yogurt condiments (raita). Optionally, it can be served with some butter on top.

Equipment

The dough can be made in a food processor, stand mixer, bread maker or by hand. I have made it in the Cuisinart food processor.

Dal can be cooked in an electric pressure cooker like Instant Pot or on the stovetop. A 3 qt. Instant Pot works well.

For rolling the paratha a rolling pin and cheeseboard is needed, but you can roll it on the countertop as well. Finally I have used the Lodge Cast iron skillet to cook the paratha.

Storage

Moong dal paratha is best when made and served fresh. However, leftovers can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days. The only downside is that it may become a little dry and crumble a bit.

The moong dal filling can be stored for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. Some water may need to be added to get rid of the dryness else it can be difficult to roll.

If you enjoyed this recipe you may also like

• Indian bread recipes
• Vegetarian Indian Instant Pot recipes
• Moong dal halwa
• Mixed lentils (Panchmel Dal) in instant pot

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