a hot lentil soup that is served with rice or the Indian bread Naan. An extremely healthful dish.
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 tablespoons ginger root, minced
- 1 teaspoon mustard seed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 3 onions, chopped
- 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook the lentils by boiling or pressure cooking until lentils are soft. (Pressure cooking is faster.)
- In a skillet heat the oil and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds begin to flutter, add onions, ginger, jalapeno peppers, and garlic. Saute until the onions and garlic are golden brown. Add coriander and cumin. Add chopped tomatoes. Saute the mixture well until tomatoes are well cooked.
- Add water. Boil 6 minutes. Add cooked lentils, stirring well. Add salt to taste, stirring well. Add finely chopped cilantro and remove from heat. Serve hot.
Reviews
I’ve made this many times now – it’s one of my “go to” recipes. Easy and healthy. I would NOT add the water at the end – the lentils are already pretty soupy. To cook the lentils, I followed the bag so I used 1 c lentils to 3 c water, but definitely could still go with less water. Adjust the jalapeños based on your needs but I like 2-3 for extra zip. And about 1-1.5 t salt. Serve over white or brown rice. And add naan too! Yum!
I pureed the peppers, added dry lentils and simmered for about 45 minutes- I read these modifications on other reviews. It is spicy and yummy!
This is a really good meatless Monday go to, lots of flavor.
Though I was somewhat underwhelmed, this was ok. I served it with both basmati rice and naan. I wish that the recipe had listed a salt amount other than “to taste”- it took at least a teaspoon of salt to get the flavor right and I’m not one who goes heavy on the salt. I think next time I might even leave some of the seeds in the jalapeños to up the flavor.
Made it a few times. Very easy and versatile. Nice and spicy.
Recipe good but as many reviewers said, it was kind of bland. I followed reviewers suggestions and added turmeric. I also added a little creole seasoning. It was not as spicy as I expected. Will add more hot pepper next time.
Really tasty. Don’t be afraid to use lots of spice. I made this the day before. It had even more flavor when I reheated it the next day. I think you could eat this cold in hot months. Yummy and healthy
Needs more spice, but I tend to say that about a lot of things.
Very good authentic Indian meal. I would suggest to over cook the lentils to make some of a stewy texture, and leave out the water. If this dish had more liquid in it, rice wouldn’t go well with it – as it would be a full on soup.
This will become a family favorite! Before adding the tomato and onion mixture to the lentils, I puréed it first which added a nice creamy texture to the Dahl.
I used only 2/3 the amount of onion called for, anymore would have overpowered the dish. I enjoyed the flavors here but was hoping for a little more heat. After trying the dish, I decided to add a few red pepper flakes to spice it up. Also I would recommend being very generous when salting this dish.
Indian dishes are incomplete without hint of turmeric powder in it, if you really want to spice up and add more flavor to this dish I would suggest you to add some garam masala (powdered spice mix) and cut down the quantity of onion. Adding some kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika if not available) along with coriander powder would also help to improve spiciness.
The longer it was cooked the better it tasted. Swapped out a few ingredients and used Marsala (no Cilantro or mustard seed).
Ok, I love Indian food, but I’m not always into cooking. I was craving this, but decided to go completely lazy. Instead of fresh tomatoes and peppers, I used a can of tomato and green chili. All the spices were dried instead of fresh, and I threw the whole thing in the crockpot. Can I even tell you how good it smells? So you can cheat. It won’t be as good, but it’s better than buying frozen from the store.
I used one less Jalapeno than the recipe and I will definitely make it again.
so good!!! worth every tear
I added some additional spices: cardamom and turmeric. I also added sea salt during the cooking instead of toward the end. It is a hearty and flavorful dish.
Used only 2 medium onions. It needs a squeeze of lemon. Yummy, can’t wait to eat more tomorrow.
I add a half pound of beef tips, saute it with the spices and onion and then add in the lentils and cook it. That’s my version of the Persian-Indian recipe of dhansak, and works out well as an all-inclusive meal. I also usually toss in a cup of squash or zucchini and let it all simmer together for 15 mins at the end.
Spices smelt beautiful, although this curry was nice I felt it was lacking something.
Very tasty! Dish takes time to prepare….not the best “quick family” recipe.