Masoor dal (red lentils): names, nutrition, benefits and how to cook

Masoor dal is the lentil, Lens culinaris, recorded by IFCT 2017 as 'Lentil, dal' under food code B013. In FAO's language it is a pulse — the edible seeds of leguminous plants, harvested dry — which also settles the 'masoor dal tree' phrasing: the lentil is a field crop whose dried seed is the dal, not a tree product.

The seed reaches the shop in two forms. Whole, with its brown coat on, it is sabut masoor; split and skinned, with the red inside showing, it is dhuli masoor — the red lentils of English shops. The split form is what nearly every recipe on this site means by masoor dal, and it cooks soft without a long soak. The whole-versus-split choice is worked through on which masoor dal is best.

The table prints the lentil's names in thirteen languages straight from IFCT 2017's local-names list: Hindi masoor dal, Marathi masur dal, Tamil mysore paruppu, Telugu misur pappu, and so on down to Sanskrit masura. English is where the confusion lives: IFCT's own English name is 'Lentil, dal', while shops sell it as red lentils, the everyday English name. The story behind each name, and why seven columns follow the whole-lentil entry's spellings, is on masoor dal english name.

Source: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN) local-names list. — means no name recorded in the source.

What masoor dal contains per 100 g of raw split dal, by IFCT 2017: 323 kcal, 24.35 g of protein, 52.53 g of carbohydrate, 10.43 g of fibre and 0.75 g of fat. The mineral rows follow — iron 7.06 mg, zinc 3.61 mg, magnesium 74.69 mg, potassium 786 mg, calcium 44.32 mg and sodium just 10.27 mg — with folate at 49.99 mcg, which rounds to 50 mcg. The table beside it sets toor dal against masoor so the two pantry staples can be read row by row.

Cooked, the numbers shrink into portions. One katori made from 30 g of dry dal lands at about 97 kcal with 7.3 g of protein, 15.8 g of carbohydrate, 3.1 g of fibre, 0.2 g of fat, 2.1 mg of iron and 15 mcg of folate; a 50 g dry serving carries about 12.2 g of protein. The glycemic index of boiled masoor averages 25 across five tests in the University of Sydney database — four Canadian entries for dried boiled red lentils and one UK entry for red split lentils boiled 25 minutes — a range of 18 to 32 that sits in the low band below 55. Every figure, with the arithmetic, is on the masoor dal nutrition page, and the dal-to-dal comparison on the masoor dal vs toor dal page.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Start with the plate. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians pair cereals with pulses at a 3:1 raw-weight ratio so the two proteins between them can supply every essential amino acid — dal with rice or roti in practice — and they credit the fibre in pulses with delaying the absorption of carbohydrates and fats and raising satiety. Masoor's 24.35 g of protein per 100 g beats toor's 21.70 g by about 12 percent, and its 10.43 g of fibre beats both toor and moong.

The trial evidence is about pulses in general, not masoor on its own: a 2016 meta-analysis of 21 randomised trials in 940 participants found pulse-rich diets gave 0.34 kg more weight loss over a median of six weeks; a 2026 dose-response meta-analysis of 38 trials in 2,095 participants found pulse diets lowered LDL cholesterol by 0.14 mmol/L and non-HDL cholesterol by 0.22 mmol/L; and a 2009 meta-analysis of 41 trials found pulse-containing diets improved markers of longer-term glycaemic control. Micronutrients come too: 7.06 mg of iron per 100 g, absorbed better when vitamin C-rich fruit or chutney shares the meal, folate at 50 mcg, and prebiotic carbohydrates that a 2015 Nutrients review counts among what the lentil supplies. All ten benefits with their sources are on masoor dal benefits, blood sugar in detail on the masoor dal for diabetes page, and the weight story on the masoor dal for weight loss page.

Gas is the honest first item: pulses carry galacto-oligosaccharides that ferment in the colon, and a 2019 review notes the classic explanation has recently been questioned while confirming most people adapt within a few weeks of regular eating. Uric acid is the second: a 2019 review assigns cooked lentils to the low purine band of 50-100 mg per 100 g and notes the body makes most of its uric acid on its own, while flagging caution for gout and advanced kidney disease; Choi's 2004 study of 47,150 men over 12 years found purine-rich vegetables and total protein were not tied to gout risk. Phytic acid and oxalates complete the list — both fall with proper cooking, phytic acid 'to a great extent' after boiling or pressure cooking per the guidelines, oxalates and lectins per a 2018 Canadian pulse study, though lentils' oxalates (168.6-289.1 mg per 100 g in that study) matter on an oxalate-restricted diet. Where gout, kidney disease or oxalate limits apply, run your dal portion past your doctor or a dietitian first.

Two groups get their own pages rather than a blanket limit: masoor dal for babies, from about six months, and masoor dal in pregnancy.

No soaking, first of all: split masoor goes from rinse to pot, and one pressure-cooker whistle does most of the work. The everyday masoor dal recipe uses one cup of dal and three cups of water, sealed at one whistle and held six minutes on low, then finished with the classic ghee, cumin, garlic and hing tadka — 25 minutes in all. Water sets the texture everywhere else: half a cup of dal in one and a half cups of water for the porridge; one cup of rice and half a cup of dal in five cups of hot water for the khichdi; one cup of dal in four cups of water, simmered partly covered for 15 minutes, for the soup. The dosa is the one recipe with a wait — its dal soaks for four to five hours, then the batter ferments overnight.

Two cooking habits carry the nutrition. Boil in just enough water without draining, the guidelines' rule for keeping folate in the pot, and let the pressure drop on its own rather than forcing it. Cooked dal keeps up to two days in the fridge and loosens with hot water when it thickens. The full methods live on the recipe pages themselves and in the masoor dal recipes roundup.

Dry masoor keeps for many months in an airtight steel or glass container, in a cool, dry cupboard away from the stove; its enemies are moisture and pests, so buy pack sizes you can finish within a few months and keep the jar sealed between uses. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians point to traditional practices like dried neem leaves in the jar as a known deterrent against some infestations. Cooked dal goes the other way: cool it and refrigerate within an hour or two, then eat it within two days, as the UK Food Standards Agency advises; reheat only the portion you need, loosened with hot water.

Five dishes cover the lentil's range, each with a full recipe page. The masoor dal recipe is the everyday tadka dal, 25 minutes and no soaking. Masoor dal khichdi cooks the dal into rice at two parts rice to one part dal, about 45 minutes with an Instant Pot setting. The masoor dal soup is the light dinner, 35 minutes at four cups of water to one cup of dal. For breakfast, the masoor dal dosa ferments a no-rice batter into eight dosas, and the masoor dal porridge sets a plain portion aside for a baby from the same pot. Per-bowl numbers: about 229 kcal and 12.2 g of protein for the tadka dal, 327 kcal for the khichdi, 199 kcal for the soup, 228 kcal for two dosas and 131 kcal for a small bowl of porridge. The masoor dal recipes roundup groups them by meal with all the times.

First pick the form for your cooking: split red dhuli masoor for quick dals, soup and porridge, whole sabut masoor where the seeds should hold their shape — the which masoor dal is best guide sorts this. On the pack, look for the FSSAI licence details on the label, a packing date or best-before you can read, and a recognised organic certification mark on the pack, if organic matters to you; the word natural is defined by FSSAI for a single food, nothing added and only minimal processing, and it does not mean organic. Check the dal itself: grains of even size, no stones, no powder at the bottom of the pack, no black specks or webbing. Unpolished dal usually looks dull, with a light dust on the grains.

What is masoor dal?

Masoor dal is the lentil, Lens culinaris: the seed of a legume plant harvested dry, FAO's definition of a pulse. Whole with its brown coat it is sabut masoor; split and skinned it is dhuli masoor, sold in English as red lentils. It softens in minutes with no soak, so it suits everyday dal, khichdi and soup.

Is masoor dal the same as red lentils?

Yes. Red lentils are masoor dal in English — the split, skinned form of the lentil — which is why the packets in western shops and the dal in Indian kitchens cook the same way. Whole sabut masoor keeps its brown coat, so 'red lentils' usually means the split, skinned form.

Why masoor dal is considered as non veg?

It is not: masoor is the seed of the lentil plant, a legume, so nothing about it comes from an animal. Whether whole sabut masoor or split red dhuli masoor, either shop form is fully vegetarian, and IFCT 2017 records the food as Lentil, dal, a plant food.

Is masoor dal non veg?

No. Masoor dal is the dried seed of the lentil plant, Lens culinaris, a legume crop, so it is plant food in either form, whole sabut masoor or split red dhuli masoor. Its protein — 24.35 g per 100 g raw (IFCT 2017) — is plant protein, and it cooks into a vegetarian dal.

Should masoor dal be soaked overnight?

No need. Split masoor softens after one pressure-cooker whistle and a few minutes on low, with no soak needed, and none of the recipes on this site soaks it overnight. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians list soaking as an optional aid to digestibility without giving a time; the step that matters is cooking the dal fully.

How much protein in masoor dal?

24.35 g per 100 g of raw split dal (IFCT 2017), ahead of toor dal at 21.70 g. A katori of cooked dal made from 30 g of dry masoor carries about 7.3 g, a 50 g dry serving about 12.2 g, and the masoor dal nutrition page carries the full table.

Is masoor dal safe to eat?

Yes, cooked normally. The cautions are specific: go slow while your digestion adapts to pulses, ask your doctor or dietitian about portions if gout or advanced kidney disease applies, and follow an oxalate-restricted diet only with your doctor's or dietitian's advice. A 2019 review finds no evidence of harmful lectins or trypsin inhibitors in properly cooked pulses.