This flavorful and warming Afghan-inspired split pea dal is made with creamy yellow split peas simmered with ginger and spices. A comforting vegan meal that's easy enough for a weeknight!
Dal is one of my favorite easy meal varieties. It's generally pretty simple to throw together, pretty healthy, and nearly always delicious!
In the past when I thought of dal my brain always went immediately to lentils, because that's the main ingredient in most dals. But you know what else makes an excellent dal? Split peas! Specifically, yellow split peas.
Split peas cook up a lot like red lentils and the texture ends up being great for a dal recipe. Yellow split peas differ a bit from green spit peas. Their flavor is a bit more earthy and a tad less sweet. They taste less like...well, peas.
This particular split pea dal recipe is something I created in an attempt to replicate a delicious dish I had at an Afghan restaurant. It's super simple to make, but you'll need to get your hands on some whole cloves and a cinnamon stick — trust me, the flavor will be SO much better than if you stick with ground spices.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Olive oil. Feel free to substitute another high-heat oil, such as coconut, avocado or vegetable oil.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Fresh ginger.
- Ground cumin.
- Ground turmeric.
- Dried yellow split peas. Look for these near the dried beans at the store.
- Vegetable broth.
- Whole cloves. Most supermarkets sell whole cloves in the spice aisle. Could you substitute ground cloves? Probably, but the flavor of your dal won't be as good.
- Cinnamon stick. Again, you can usually find whole cinnamon sticks in the spice aisle, and it's totally worth getting them for this recipe. If you can't find them at the regular grocery store, try an Asian market or buy them online.
- Lemon juice. Use freshly squeezed juice to give your dal the best flavor.
- Sambal oelek. Obviously this isn't an authentic ingredient in Afghan dal, but it's an easy way to add heat, so it's what I use. Feel free to substitute a hot pepper or your favorite hot sauce, or leave it out for a milder version of the dish.
- Salt & pepper.
- Fresh cilantro.
- Cooked basmati rice. This is my favorite accompaniment for yellow split pea dal, but you could serve it with another grain such as quinoa, or even bread.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat the oil in a large pot, then add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, stirring it often, until it begins to soften up.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, and turmeric. Sauté everything for a few minutes, until the mixture becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the split peas, broth, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Raise the heat and bring the broth to a simmer.
- Lower the heat and let the dal cook, giving it a stir every so often and adding water to the pot as it dries up.
Tip: Keep a container of hot water nearby so you can add it to the dal as it cooks without bringing down the temperature. A tea kettle works great for this because you can keep heating it up!
- Be patient and give the yellow split peas plenty of time to soften up — it can take a while! Mine generally cook in an hour, but give them up to an hour and a half if needed.
- Remove the pot from heat when the dal has finished simmering. Stir in the lemon juice and season your yellow split pea dal with salt, pepper, and sambal oelek. Remove the cinnamon stick from the pot. You can take the cloves out to if preferred, but I like to leave them in for little bursts of flavor.
- Serve your yellow split pea dal over rice with a sprinkle of cilantro on top.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover yellow split pea dal will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is!
You can! The flavor will be a bit different, but it will still be delicious.
The first thing to check is that you've got enough water in the pot. You might end up adding several cups of water while the dal cooks. You don't want too much, but you at least want all the peas to be covered. Also check the date on your package of peas, if there is one. If they're old they might not soften up.
More Recipes Like This
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📖 Recipe
Yellow Split Pea Dal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 ½ cups dried yellow split peas
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick (2 inches)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek, or to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Fresh cilantro leaves, for topping
- Cooked basmati rice, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in large pot. When the oil is hot, add the onion.
- Sweat the until soft and translucent, about five minutes, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin and turmeric. Sauté everything for about 1 minute, until very fragrant, stirring constantly to prevent anything from burning.
- Stir in the peas, broth, cinnamon stick and cloves. Raise the heat and bring the broth to a boil.
- Lower the heat, cover and allow the dal to simmer for about one hour (Note 1), stirring occasionally. Add hot water to the pot as the liquid dries up. (Note 2)
- Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lemon juice, sambal oelek, salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with rice and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Notes
- It can take up to an hour and a half for the peas to totally soften up, depending on a number of factors such as how old they are, how much water is in the pot, and how soft you like them. Be patient!
- Make sure the lentils are just covered with water at all times. I like to fill a kettle with a quart of water and keep it hot so I've always got hot water nearby when needed.
- This recipe makes about 3 cups of dal.
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Good recipie but I based .y choice on total time.of 1 hr and 10 mins. Noy until I was well into the process did I read tge part of the lentils taking 1hr30mins to cook bringing total time to 1hr 40-45 mins. I would have appreciated a realistic total time.
Yum! Tasty, cheap, and easy—so good I made it 2 weeks in a row! I didn’t have cloves or cinnamon so I ramped up the other spices and subbed in a teaspoon of curry powder and it was still very flavorful. I also added about a cup and a half of chopped frozen spinach at the very end. Will be making this regularly!
This was delicious. Easy to make although my split peas did take longer to took than stated. We have lots of leftovers too so having with roti for lunch tomorrow. Highly recommend this dish. Thanks
Cheap, easy to make, nutritional and tasty. I add frozen spinach at the end with 15 mins left. It gets made almost weekly. My son loves it to. Serve with rice mixed in with little peas.
I'm thinking about trying this tonight. Question though, do you know if I might be able to use a pressure cooker (Instant Pot) instead of the stovetop method in the instructions? Please comment back if you have recommendations for adjusting time/water/etc. Thank you!
I'm afraid I haven't tried making this in the Instant Pot, but I do have a split pea soup recipe with Instant Pot instructions: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegetarian-split-pea-soup/ You could try adapting the split pea soup method to make the dal. The Instant Pot works great for the split pea soup, so bet it will for this recipe as well!
Three words: A-maz-ing! I inherited a huge bag of yellow split peas, and found this recipe while looking for something vegan to cook with them. We have been all over the East and eaten at dozens of little mom-and-pop shops there; this dal is very authentic -- at least to our taste buds. This will be a regular dish at our house!
My boyfriend went NUTS over this dal! he loved it so, so much! And I agree, its so simple to make, yet so tasty. My split peas are soaking as I type for a second batch. I also added some spinach at the end and drizzled over some Afghan garlic mint yoghurt sauce with sumak. Thanks for the great recipe!
Another awesome recipe from your site! I made this with green split peas, which was all I had on hand, and while they did not look as lovely as your yellow split peas, the flavor of this was delicious. Warming, spicy, and comforting. I cut back on the sambal because we like just a bit of spice. I did let it cook for an extra half hour because the split peas were a bit chewy. We served it with yogurt and homemade pita. Thanks for another winner! I know we're in for a treat when I search for a recipe and see one from your site, they're always great.
Very good dal! It's also nice that it stays bright yellow unlike most split pea dals which turn brownish. . My split yellow peas were definitely rather old. I didn't sample the dal until it had cooked about 2 hours and it was almost overcooked ( fine by me). Two things I do differently than what recipes say to do - - Years ago I read that putting salt in at the beginning of cooking will make legumes *harden*, so I wait until they're cooked, and, use low salt broth. Another thing I do differently with small legumes like split peas and lentils is start them in cold water, about 1/3 of the total water. When that comes to a slow boil I add the rest of the water which has been preheated in the teakettle. Maybe one of those is what makes the difference?
This is just about the best dal recipe I've ever tried, and my new vegetarian go to recipe. I followed the recipe fairly closely, other than adding extra garlic and ginger and being generous with the sambal. I also had to cook it longer even though I had just bought the split peas. Added extra water and the texture came out perfect. I made a double recipe for New Year's dinner and my mostly vegetarian family licked the pot clean.
That's awesome! I'm so glad it was a hit! Happy New Year!!
Loved this! I've never made (or had!) Afghani food, so wasn't sure what to expect with this interesting combo of spices. Will definitely be making it again. :)
Wonderful! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
I was very excited about the smells coming from my pot of yellow split pea dal.... but the split peas wouldn't soften!! I cooked it for three hours and the peas are still "al dente." I am guessing I should've soaked them overnight first...
Oh no! Usually when that happens it means the split peas are a bit dated. Is there a date on the package? Soaking them can cut a few minutes off the cook time, but it shouldn't be necessary.
Thanx for the useful and authentic recipee you have share with this article
it will be surely Delicious.
Very welcome! Enjoy!
We made this recipe and it came out quite bitter. Any idea whyr? We want to try to make it again since all the reviews say it was fantastic. Thank you!
Is it possible that something burned? The onions, garlic, and spices in particular can make the entire dish taste bitter if they burn. Keep a close eye on them while they're cooking, and make sure to stir the spices constantly. If you want to really err on the side of caution you can add them in step 4 with the broth. Toasting them briefly helps enhance the flavor, but it's not strictly necessary.
OMG I just made this. THIS RECIPE IS DELICIOUS! I am so in love with it, thank you for sharing it with the world. My tastebuds, body, and boyfriend are very happy with it!
Yay!! I'm so glad you love it! THanks Michelle!
Thanks. The great thing about split peas is that they don't have to be pre-soaked. The Morrison Farms yellow split peas I have, says soak overnight (up to 12 hours). It is a commodity product, so these are probably old. Read your labels!
Challaw is white rice.
Dal refers to an entire category of legumes which includes many sizes and colors of lentils and split peas. Either the yellow split pea or the split red/yellow lentil from the masoor lentil is used to create traditional dals. Afghan dal is a little thicker, less soupy, than Indian dal.
Thanks for sharing all of this!
Does this store in the fridge and/or freezer well?
Absolutely! Just store it in a sealed container. You should get 3-4 days in the fridge, and a few months in the freezer. Enjoy!
So easy and good! I’ll halve the chilli sauce next time since I have a two year old but just right for us!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much Cheryl!
I found the peas where not cooked tender after an hour. I keep adding time in 10 minute increments until the mixture was starting to burn. Should I have soaked the peas?
On no! Were they split? If they were split that shouldn't happen. The only other thing I can think of that would cause it is if your peas were a bit old.
I only did half the recipe and after 90 min the split peas also weren't cooked. I looked at the package and it said soak overnight so maybe there are different types of split peas.
Are you sure the peas were split? There are different varieties of split peas, but generally as long as they're split they don't require soaking - the split actually allows water to penetrate during cooking, so they cook much faster than whole dried peas.
I also had this issue :( I think it is because I added salt at the beginning, affecting how the peas would absorb water. Might want to clarify to not add salt until the end.
I think that happened to me. My peas were old and took a really long time. I also had to replenish the water a few times.
While definitely not a vegan option, adding a touch of yogurt (I use fage greek non-fat) makes this from awesome to delectable. I also added a squirt of fresh lemon. This is a great recipe and came out right on my first try! (although I did use pinches of ground cinnamon and cloves since I didn't have whole on hand.)
I'm glad you like it! I actually sometimes serve non-dairy yogurt with my dal - especially when I make it extra spicy! Thanks Melissa!
Hi there, I love daal and am trying to reduce fat content into my diet. Can you tell me how big your serving size is for it to be 250 calories? Thank you
Hi Kirsty! It's approximately 1 cup. Enjoy!
You list "4 whole cloves" in the recipe but don't say of what! I'm using my imagination but coming up short :)
Also - where did you eat in Philly? I'd love to stop over and try the original inspiration for this dish.
Just cloves, as in the spice! Ground cloves are more common, but you should be able to find them whole in this spice aisle - like this: https://www.amazon.com/Simply-Organic-Whole-Cloves-Ounce/dp/B00AJRKKI6/ The place in Philly was Sansom Kabob House. :)
Yum! Doubled the recipe and subbed 2 cans full-fat coconut milk for 2 cups of broth (ended up having to add an additional cup of water 45 min into the simmer). Omitted chili paste since I have two young boys. Chopped broccoli and added to the mixture for the final 10 min. My picky 6 year old son loved it over jasmine rice! The even pickier 4 year old ate 3 bites, which is a win in our house!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! And coconut milk sounds like a delicious addition!
DELICIOUS.
I followed the recipe exactly, but added about 1/4 cup coconut milk at the very end. I've made this multiple times and it's one of my favorites. I also don't need rice. It's a great breakfast meal too!
Very simple yet very flavorful! I combined this with cauliflower rice and loved it. I doubled the recipe and found it took longer to cook as a result - more like 75-90 minutes as opposed to 60. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay!! Glad you enjoyed it! Thank Luke!
I made this today using red lentils. OMG - this is the best dal I have ever made - hearty, fragrant, earthy, totally delicious!
Yay! This is probably my favorite dal too! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)