Indian spiced lentils

[Cookies Galore]

BF requests this dish almost weekly. Honestly, I think I could live off it.

1 cup dried lentils
1/3 cup oil
2 vegetable bullion cubes
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cilantro

1. Rinse and sort lentils. Place in enough water to cover by 1" (roughly 2 cups)
2. Add the other ingredients, except cilantro, and bring to boil. Reduce heat an simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add cilantro and simmer another 15 minutes.

I serve this with basmati or jasmine rice, whatever I have more of. Sometimes I add saffron to the basmati rice.
Enjoy!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Does it matter which kind of lentils?

[Cookies Galore]

Molly, I don't think so. I just use the cheap bag of store brand lentils and it comes out perfect every time.

[bring in the new year]

The brown ones are a little sturdier and cheaper than the red ones.

The red ones probably need a little less cooking.

the fancy green ones are nice but in my store probably double the price. They'd have to be amazing before I'd pick them.

[tiredturkey]

Meghan, thanks for this recipe. We tried it tonight and it was great! DH loved it and it's so easy to fix.

[Cookies Galore]

Sept 5, 2011 19:47:43 GMT -5 @tiredturkey said:

Meghan, thanks for this recipe. We tried it tonight and it was great! DH loved it and it's so easy to fix.

Glad you like it!

[Cookies Galore]

Damn double post.

[swasat]

Sept 5, 2011 19:56:00 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Is this the one that makes the traditional Indian Lentil Soup? I needed a recipe for that one.

tt, is it the yellow colored one you are talking about? The dhal/indian lentil soup that you get in Indian restaurants?

If you want that one let me know. I have a recipe an Indian friend gave me. Its very easy to make and comes out wonderful.

[tiredturkey]

I would love to see the recipe for the soup. DH and I have gotten really fond of Indian food this year. Today I bought a cookbook devoted to Indian slowcooker recipes.

[Cookies Galore]

I want that soup recipe! ;D

[swasat]

Sorry, just saw your posts ;D

Here is the recipe. It cooks so much better if you have the pressure cooker. But I guess you can use a slow cooker and it will come out as good.

1.5 cups of yellow toor dal ( available in India/international stores. I bought mine from an Indian grocery store)
3 cups of water
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder ( from Indian grocery)
Salt to taste

Cumin seeds ( just a few)
mustard seeds ( just a few)
1 finely chopped medium size red onion
1 finely chopped tomato
1 clove grated garlic
Small piece of ginger, grated
2 tbsp butter
pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Cook the dhal/lentils with water, salt, and turmeric. It should be completely cooked, kind of mushy.
2. In a cooking pot, add butter. Once hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let it crackle a bit.
3. Add onions and fry till cooked. Add tomatoes, ginger and garlic and let it cook till tomatoes are completely cooked and water has evaporated. add cayenne pepper.
4. Add the lentils to the pot. Add more water if needed and let it simmer for 10-15 min.

DONE!!

ETA: You can add chopped cilantro to the soup if you like. I like the taste of cilantro so I always add it.

[saveinla]

swasat,

You can also saute some vegetables - quick cooking ones like eggplant, certain type of squashes etc after cooking the onions.

One other variation would be to use yellow moong dhal instead of tuvar dhal or a combination of both.

[trillian]

Oh yum...

I just checked out Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" from the library and have been drooling over all the curry recipes. Can't wait to try these!