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Cooking daal

How long should you soak daal?

“Daal kitni der bhigoni chahiye?”

2 min readUpdated October 2026By The Rice Guy
The short answer

Split daals (masoor, moong) need 30 minutes or none. Daal channa and whole moong or masoor: 1 to 2 hours. Safaid channa and lal lobia: overnight, 8 to 10 hours.

Soaking chart

Daal / pulseSoak
Split masoor, dhuli moong0 to 30 minutes
Daal channa1 to 2 hours
Sabat moong, sabat masoor1 to 2 hours
Safaid channaOvernight (8 to 10 hours)
Lal lobiaOvernight (8 to 10 hours)

Forgot to soak?

For chickpeas and lobia, pour boiling water over them, cover and leave for an hour. It is not quite as good as overnight, but close.

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