Matimah (Whole Black Urad) with Rice
Assam's simple, earthy black urad dal, cooked with ginger and finished with a mustard-oil tempering — a staple of the everyday Assamese meal of rice, dal and greens.
- Region
- Assam
- Status
- Traditional
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Soak 6 h · Prep 10 min · Cook 40 min
- Serves
- 3
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Everyday lunch
- Tags
- Good source · High fibre · Dairy-free · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free* · No added sugar · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- None of the major allergens (mustard oil; check hing)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 490 kcal
- Protein
- 22 g
- Carbs
- 78 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 19 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matimah only (about 250 ml) | 220 | 14 g | 29 g | 5 g | 0 g | 13 g | 1 g | 6.5 g |
| Full plate: dal, 60 g raw rice, 100 g greens | 490 | 22 g | 78 g | 8 g | 1 g | 19 g | 1 g | 4.5 g |
Good source (plate); the dish alone is High protein. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 180 g whole black urad (matimah), dry
- 15 g ginger, julienned · 10 g garlic · 2 green chillies · 100 g tomato (optional; some homes add it, others don't) · ½ tsp turmeric · 5 g salt
- Tempering: 10 g mustard oil · 1 bay leaf · ½ tsp cumin or panch phoron · 2 dry red chillies
- Plate: 180 g raw rice · 300 g lai xaak (mustard greens) or other greens, sautéed in 9 g mustard oil
Method
- Soak urad 6 hours. Drain.
- Pressure-cook with turmeric, ginger, chillies and 700 ml water for 1 whistle on high, then 20 minutes on low, until the beans are soft and partly broken.
- Mash a few beans to thicken. Add salt, tomato (if using) and 150 ml water; simmer 10 minutes.
- Heat mustard oil until it just smokes; lower the heat. Add bay leaf, cumin, red chillies and garlic until golden. Pour over the dal.
- Serve with rice and greens.
Protein optimisation
- Whole urad supplies 14 g per serving; rice 4 g; greens 2 g.
- Boost: serve with 100 g curd (+3.5 g protein, +60 kcal), as in many Assamese homes.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Matimah with khar — add 1 tbsp khar (an alkaline filtrate from banana peel ash), traditional in Assam, which gives a distinctive flavour.
- Substitution: whole masoor dal cooks faster (25 minutes) with a similar texture.
- Storage: 3 days refrigerated; freezes 2 months.
- Food safety: reheat until boiling.
- Meal prep: excellent.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com