Roti King Dal Recipe
by Sugen Gopal
-
20 minutes prep time
-
95 minutes cook time
-
Easy
This is my mum’s recipe and I’ve been cooking it since the early Roti King days. Back when I was selling food from market stalls and kiosks across London, this was a good, tasty dish that I could make with inexpensive ingredients. Now a top seller on the Roti King menu, too, it’s delicious served alongside roti.
I recommend using a pressure cooker for this recipe as it uses less water and takes less time.
For those without one, I give instructions for cooking on the stove, whereby the dal is cooked separately to speed things up. If you are doubling up the recipe, remember you may need to add more water and it will take longer to cook. It’s important that the split peas are washed properly before cooking – a thorough wash should involve four washes and rinses.
This recipe is extracted from Roti King, by Sugen Gopal (Quadrille Publishing Ltd, April 2025)
Ingredients Serves: 4
- 300g yellow split peas, thoroughly washed
- 1tsp ground turmeric
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- ½tsp brown or black mustard seeds
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 dried Kashmiri chilli, roughly chopped
- 12 curry leaves, picked from the stalks
- 2tsp ginger paste
- 100g tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sambar powder (or any curry powder, such as garam masala)
- 15–20g coriander, stalks and leaves finely chopped
How to make King Dal
- In a large, lidded saucepan, add the split peas, turmeric and garlic along with 2 litres of boiling water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 90 minutes or until the split peas have softened.
- In a separate frying pan set over a medium heat, add the oil or ghee and when hot, add the cinnamon, star anise and mustard seeds.
- Cook for 2 minutes before turning the heat down and adding the onion, chilli and curry leaves.
- Cook for another 10 minutes until the onions are coloured and soft.
- Add the ginger paste, tomatoes and salt, and cook for another 10 minutes, then add the sambar spice mix to the pan.
- Once the dal has been cooking for 90 minutes, taste it and check the split peas are soft. If it needs longer, continue to cook until soft. Once cooked, add the tomato and onion mixture to the dal, along with the coriander, and stir together. Serve the dal hot with roti.
About the author
Sugen Gopal was born and raised in Ipoh, Malaysia, where in the family restaurant, his parents showcased their love of authentic Malaysian cuisine. Inspired by the food of his childhood, Sugen moved to London to open the first Roti King, serving a simple menu of Malaysian classics. For almost a decade, the restaurant has served its iconic Roti Canai at affordable prices to foodies in the know and since then, Roti King has launched multiple sites and market stalls across the city
