Coconut Black Lentil Curry is a creamy and crazy delicious vegan curry recipe. Using coconut milk instead of heavy cream keeps this buttery dal makhani dairy free without losing any of the richness you crave.
I've got more lentils coming your way!!
You guys, you've completely surprised me. If you had asked me a year ago what the most popular recipes on this blog would have been, I NEVER would have guessed lentil recipes. I love lentils, but I thought I might have been the only one. My only regret is not finding out sooner that you love lentils as much as I do.
There was always these thoughts in my head that went something like this:
Lentils are soft and creamy and delicious. They're also brown. They're mushy. They're kinda weird. They're not exactly food blog raving material. Except … it turns out they totally are.
This time, I've made us a vegan dal makhani. It's rich and creamy, just like the dal makhani from your fav Indian restaurant. The only difference is that this black lentil curry is made with coconut oil and milk instead of the usual loads of butter and heavy cream.
I've got a story about black lentil curry that makes me laugh every time I think about it. Years ago (so many years ago that it makes me feel old. gahh.) I was traveling around India doing the whole early twenty-something, slightly dirty, broke ass backpacker thing. I was living off of 25 cent bowls of roadside curry, and dal makhani was always my fav. I came to think of myself as a bit of a dal makhani expert, even though I had never in my life made a pot.
One day at my hostel rooftop restaurant in Varanasi, I ordered dal makhani. What came out was a tasty, creamy sauce with these weird hard lumps of things in it. I called the waiter over and explained that something was not right.
If you've ever been to India before, you'll be able to imagine how well that went.
If you haven't been to India before, there are two things you should know:
- A man is never wrong.
- White people are the dumbed down version of super smart Indian people. ← I had nearly that exact phrase said to me so many times.
So this waiter tried to tell me that everything was ok and that I should just keep quiet and eat this hard, lumpy thing that kind of resembled curry. Being the feisty twenty-year-old that I was, that didn't sit so well with me. After voices were raised and I tried to convince the waiter to take a bite of the curry to see for himself how inedible it was, I marched the curry into the kitchen and proceeded to tell the chef how to make dal makhani.
Remember, I had never in my life made dal makhani.
I ended up getting a new bowl of some other kind of curry and am sure I added plenty of fuel to the ‘white women don't know their place in the world' fire. Ha!
Back to THIS black lentil curry …
I'd be lying to you if I said it tasted exactly like regular dal makhani. Coconut milk has a strong flavor, and it comes out in the curry. There is no way around that, and it's not a bad thing.
All my attempts to try and make this authentic tasting without the cream failed. While black urad lentils are very creamy on their own, they lacked the intense creaminess I was looking for. Adding coconut milk gave the richness I was looking for but did change the flavor. I think the flavor change is for the better.
This curry is made using urad lentils, which are a little different than the red, brown, or green lentils you are probably accustomed to. They look like tiny black beans and can be found online or in the Indian section of well-stocked supermarkets.
What is awesome about them is that they don't break down and turn to mush like other lentils. While they cook in abut a half hour, they can keep cooking for hours without falling apart. They're very forgiving.
Whole black urad lentils also much creamier than other lentils, which makes them perfect for curries. When you're looking for them, you may find that they are called Sabut Urad dal, Kaali dal, or Black Gram. So many aliases! 🙂
Related video: Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry {1 min}
If you make this Coconut Black Lentil Curry make sure to snap a pic and tag #theendlessmeal on Instagram so I can like and comment on your photos. I love seeing TEM recipes you create!
- 1 cup dried whole urad dal
- ¼ cup dried black chickpeas (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 large onion, finely minced
- 1 - 2-inch piece ginger, finely minced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons crushed coriander seeds
- 3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric and chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 - 15-ounce can coconut milk
- Place the urad dal and black chickpeas in a pot and cover with a few inches of water. Set aside to soak for at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours.
- Drain the water from the pot and add fresh water. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover the pot, and let it cook until the chickpeas are soft, about 1 hour. Drain and rinse.
- Heat the coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring often, until the oil begins to glisten, about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of water, the garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, chili powder, salt, and the cooked urad lentils and black chickpeas to the pan and stir. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Using the back of a spoon, mash a few of the lentils. Stir in the coconut milk and heat through. Taste and add more salt if you'd like.
Kristen Stevens
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Hi, I’m Kristen! 
It turns out I mistaked the Urad beans for beluga lentils, and I followed this recipe with beluga lentils instead of urad beans 😀 I skipped the chickpeas because I forgot to soak them, but otherwise the recipe works great with black beluga lentils as well, I just creamed it up a bit with stand blender in the end.
Overall the taste is to die for so everything turned out well, but I’ll look out for actual urad beans and repeat the recipe!
I’m so happy you liked it! Beluga lentils are so good too. 🙂
Ha, loved the “Indian argument” story. and yes I know exactly how that would have gone down. Silly white people know nothing! I was told the same when I made the mistake of commenting on some Indian history.
Any way, love the recipe and the idea of adding coconut was great, like a Southern Indian version of Dal Makhani. I made it for a vegan mate of mine and he loved it..
Hahaha well I’m happy to hear I’m not the only one!!
This was delicious! I used coconut milk yogurt that I made (too runny to eat as yogurt)…but yum in this.
I’m so happy you liked it!!
thank you very much <3
You’re so welcome!
I found the beluga lentils in a health food store and made this recipe tonight. It is absolutely amazing! My new favourite lentil dish.
That’s so great to hear!
We just moved to a new area and while looking around, found an Indian grocery. We bought black lentils on a whim. I searched for recipes and found this one – it is simmering away right now making the house smell yummy! We can’t wait to eat tonight!
It was meant to be! Don’t you just love it when that happens?!!
So yum! We left out the chilli so it would be mild for the kids and we all loved it. – so flavoursome and deliciously creamy. Will definitely be making again, thank you!
just realised I used 15oz coconut cream instead of milk – no wonder it was creamy haha
I bet it was even better!!
Just made this and boy oh boy is it tasty! Mine turned out a bit looser than I expected but still very very good. This one’s a keeper!
I’m so happy you liked it!
Do you mean 1/2 inch of ginger or really 2 inches? thank you. I love lentil, and want to try your reciepe soon!!
Nope … a full 2″ piece. Nice and gingery. 🙂
I made this recipe today and it didn’t turn out. I followed the recipe exactly although I didn’t use chick peas or the coconut milk. There was something strong in there that we didn’t like – maybe the coriander seed? not sure but was very disappointed.
Leaving out the coconut milk would have a big impact on the flavor of the dish. It’s one of the key components! You would definitely want to reduce the spices if you don’t use coconut milk.
this looks so tasty. I am so gonna try this. thanks for sharing this.
Lots of love!
You are so welcome! I hope you like the recipe as much as I do!
Delicious! I made it with a pack of precooked puy lentils so it took no time at all and they have a great consistency Natco sell canned kala chana which you can get in most asian supermarkets in East London 🙂
I’m so happy you liked the recipe! And what a great time saving tip!
How long would you cook this in an instant pot? Thank you!
I’ve never cooked with an Instant Pot so I’m really not sure. I would look for an Instant Pot lentil recipe online and base the cooking time off of that. 🙂
The way you have made this in the video is completely different to the recipe in the text. Which do you prefer?
The video is a different lentil curry recipe I have. (Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry) Both recipes are delicious!
This was delicious thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Hooray!!
Hi Kristen! This curry looks so rich and creamy. I once bought a bag of black chickpeas on a whim and now I know what to do with them! Thanks for sharing 🙂
That’s awesome! I do the same all the time – buy weird ingredients and then keep them in my pantry for ages. Hope you love the recipe as much as I do!
This is beautiful. I’ve eaten something similar to this (and loved it) but never knew it had a name. This recipe looks fantastic- I’m going to have to search down urad dal now!
Thanks, Allyson! It really is delicious. 🙂