What is Urad Dal (Split black lentils, Black gram dal) ?

Split urad dal retains the skin and also has a strong flavour. Skinned and split urad dal is creamy white and somewhat bland.
When boiled, the dal has an unusual mucilaginous texture. Tempered aromatically, it can be used as an accompaniment to rotis and rice.
Ground into flour or paste, it is extensively used in culinary preparations like dosa, idli, vada, and papad. In south Indian cuisine, urad dal is also commonly used for tempering. For such purposes, the white lentils are generally used.

Boiled urad dal

As the name suggests refers to the urad dal which are boiled. You can use two cups of water per cup of lentils. These proportions are based on cooking with the pot cover on. This way, it will cook a little faster, use less energy, and perhaps retain more vitamins. Bring the concoction to a boil, then turn the down the flame to medium-low. If it gets too thick, add more water. The beans are cooked when they burst and the water turns syrupy. You cana lso pressure cook the soaked urad dal with or without salt in boiling water for 5-7 minutes. The beans are cooked when they burst and the water turns syrupy. At this point , you may add spices, vegetables or even boiled rice as per your preference and recipe requirements.

Soaked urad dal

Sort the urad dal to remove stones and other debris. Wash it in running water. Soak in water overnight. The soaked dal can be ground into a fine or coarse paste as per recipe requirement or boiled further.

How to Select Urad Dal, Split black lentils, Black gram dal

• Urad dal is easily available in grocery stores, pre-packaged as well as in bulk containers.
• If purchasing in a packaged container, check to see if there is a "use-by" date on the package.
• Just as with any other food that you may purchase in the bulk section, make sure that the bins containing the dal are covered and that the store has a good product turnover so as to ensure its maximal freshness.
• Whether purchasing urad dal in bulk or in a packaged container, make sure that there is no evidence of moisture.

Culinary Uses of Urad Dal

Urad dal Indian recipes

The aromatic South-Indian tempering is incomplete without a dash of urad dal which turns crunchy on frying. This tempering is drizzled on chutney, rice, sabzis etc.

Try this off-beat Gujarati Style Urad Dal Recipe and try something different from your daily routine.

Khatta Urad Dal is another delightful preparation with just a handful of ingredients.

Making subzis like the Urad Dal with Paneer and Urad Dal with Spinach is another great way to incorporate urad dal in your meal and increasing the nutritive value.

Perk up your whole wheat bhakri by stuffing them with a tongue-tickling mixture to make Stuffed Urad Dal Bhakri .

Mix boiled urad dal with dough to make sumptuous Urad Dal Roti and relish them hot with fresh pickle or a bowl of curd.

Rajasthan is popular for various kachoris and puris, Spicy Urad Dal Puris is one such recipe. Savour them with a sweet pickle and hot tea.

Urad Dal in South Indian snacks

Urad dal is widely used to make delightful South-Indian snacks ranging from paper-thin dosa, spongey uttapam, fluffy idlis, deep-fried vadas and crispy appe. The ever-popular Medu vada makes for a scrumptious breakfast when served with chutney and sambhar.

Enhance the taste of it by adding chopped cabbage which gives a nice crunch to the vada after deep-frying. You can make bite-sized Mini Cabbage Vadas and serve as an appetizer in a party.

Sada dosa, crispy paper dosa, Adai are some easy and unfussy variants of dosa.

While you can always stuff them with a spicy potato bhaji, chutney, mixed sprouts or a vegetable mixture to make a wholesome and filling snack option like Mysore Masala Dosa, Masala dosa.

• Urad dal is used on a daily basis in South Indian houses to make batters for vada, idlis and dosas and is also an important ingredient in tempering for most south Indian dishes.
• Boiled dal tastes delicious when prepared with fried tomato, garlic and onion. You can add other veggies too.

How to Store Urad Dal

• Sort the urad dal to remove stones and any dirt particles.
• It can be stored indefinitely in an airtight container in a cool, dry location.
• Cooked urad dal should be stored in the refrigerator and can be used for up to 3 or 4 days.

10 Magnificent Health Benefits of Urad Dal

Urad dal is also known as Split black lentils and Black gram dal. Split urad dal retains the skin and also has a strong flavour. Skinned and split urad dal is creamy white and somewhat bland. When boiled, the dal has an unusual mucilaginous texture. Tempered aromatically, it can be used as an accompaniment to rotis and rice.

Ground into flour or paste, it is extensively used in culinary preparations like dosa, idli, vada, and papad. In south Indian cuisine, urad dal is also commonly used for tempering. For such purposes, the white lentils are generally used.

Here are 10 reasons why urad dal, (Split black lentils, Black gram dal) should be a part of your diet.

1. High Folic acid: 1 cup of cooked urad dal gives 69.30% of folic acid of your daily requirement of folate. Folic acid is required in various metabolic processes of our body. It is particularly important for pregnant women to have enough folate. They must start having folate rich foods even while they are planning to conceive. Folic acid deficiency in pregnancy can cause neural tube defects in the growing baby. Optimum folate levels need to be maintained before and during pregnancy.

2. Good for Blood: The folic acid in urad dal helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially red blood cells.

3. Urad dal for healthy bones and teeth: 1 cup of cooked urad dal gives 26.95% of the total daily requirements for calcium. Being rich in Phosphorus it works with Calcium to build our bones. Helps in maintaining healthy teeth and bones by maintaining their structure.

For complete Health Benefits of Urad Dal read this article.

Nutrition Information for Urad Dal

Nutritional Information for 1 Cup of Urad Dal
One Cup of Urad Dal is 210 grams which comes from 105 grams raw Urad Dal.
RDA stands for Recommended Daily Allowance.

364 Calories
25 grams of Protein
62.58 grams of Carbs
1.47 grams of Fat

138.60 mcg of Folic Acid = 69.30% of RDA (about 200 mcg)

404.25 mg of Phosphorus (P) = 67.37 % of RDA (about 600 mg)

12.28 grams of Fibre = 49.12% of RDA (about 25 grams)

136.5 mg of Magnesium (Mg) = 39% of RDA (about 350 mg)

0.44 mg of Vitamin B1, Thiamine = 36.66% of RDA (about 1.2 to 1.5 mg)

3.15 mg of Zinc (Zn) = 31.50% of RDA (about 10 to 12 mg)

161.70 mg of Calcium (Ca) = 26.95% of RDA (about 600 mg)

0.29 mg of Vitamin B2, Riboflavin = 26.36% of RDA (about 1.1 mg)

3.99 mg of Iron (Fe) = 19% of RDA (about 21 mg)

840 mg of Potassium (K) = 17.87% of RDA (about 4,700 mg)

2.1 mg of Vitamin B3, Niacin = 17.5% of RDA (about 12 mg)

41.79 mg of Sodium (Na) = 2.19% of RDA (about 1902 mg)

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