Indian Lentil Soup Recipe
A spiced Indian-style lentil soup, inspired by classic masoor dal. This recipe calls for commonly used spices in India, retaining authentic flavors from the Indian subcontinent. A one-pot dish for chilly nights.
Servings: 3 servings
Calories: 413kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cup Red Lentils split lentils cook faster
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 Medium Onion sliced
- 1 Teaspoon Brown Mustard Seeds
- 3 Curry Leaves optional, see Notes
- 1 Tomato diced
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic paste or chopped, *see Note
- ¼ Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
- ¼ Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper Ground i.e Cayenne, Kashmiri
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- Pinch Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground
- ½ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground
- 5 Cups Broth
- Pinch Nutmeg
- Juice of one Lime
- Cilantro Fresh chopped, aka Coriander greens
Instructions
- Wash and keep your red lentils to soak for about 20-30 minutes. That will reduce your cooking time a bit and save you stove energy as well. When done soaking, strain the lentils.1 ½ Cup Red Lentils
- Add oil to a pan and heat up, add in and fry your onion slices.1 Tablespoon Oil, 1 Medium Onion
- Add the mustard seeds with the curry leaves and temper/stir-fry until the spices emit a fragrant aroma.1 Teaspoon Brown Mustard Seeds, 3 Curry Leaves
- Take it briefly from the heat, and add the tomato, ginger, and garlic. Stir cook for a minute on a medium heat setting (careful, the ginger garlic jumps).1 Tomato, 1 Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic
- Take from the heat again so that you can add the spices one by one without anything burning on. Add in the turmeric powder, the chili powder, the black pepper, salt, the ground cumin, and the ground coriander seed ground.¼ Teaspoon Turmeric Ground, ¼ Teaspoon Red Chili Pepper Ground, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds Ground, ½ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds Ground, Pinch Salt
- Stir fry the spices on high heat for a minute, then reduce the heat again.
- Add the lentils to the pan and stir-fry for a minute on high heat again. Pour in your broth, mix, add the grated nutmeg, and mix again well.1 ½ Cup Red Lentils, 5 Cups Broth, Pinch Nutmeg
- Leave the soup to cook covered for about 10 minutes on a medium heat setting. Uncover and simmer further until lentils are cooked through and soft.
- Take it from the heat, adjust salt seasoning, and add the lime juice. Mix well.Juice of one Lime
- Pour soup into a serving bowl and garnish with fresh cilantro.Cilantro Fresh
Video
Notes
- Curry leaves are optional because they are not always available. However, I do suggest you get them because the curry leaves add real flavor to the Indian dal soup. Curry leaves, btw, have nothing in common with curry powder. These are two very different ingredients. Curry leaves grow on the curry plant tree. The leaves taste best when fresh; in fact, curry leaves are rarely used dry in India. You can purchase fresh curry leaves here for a reasonable price.
- For the Ginger and Garlic paste, you can also use fresh ginger and garlic, but I prefer the paste because it mixes in better, and the ginger in paste form helps to thicken any soup or sauce. Yet feel free to use fresh ginger and fresh garlic. Substitute 1 tbs of paste for 2 fresh garlic cloves and ½ inch of fresh ginger, and chop finely. You can also buy ginger garlic paste.
- You may double the dal soup recipe to prepare more. That way you can meal prep for the week, and besides, lentil soup heated up again the next day usually tastes better.
4. If you feel your soup is getting too thick, add some more water to the soup at the end. Sometimes I add about 100 milliliters more, depending on how liquid I want my soup. - If you are short on time, you can skip the soaking part of the lentils. Red lentils usually cook fast, but the soaking can reduce it a bit, and with the soaking, they tend to cook evenly and get nice and soft.
- I add the mustard seeds and curry leaves after the onion has been added because the mustard seeds don't jump up that much when the onion is in the pan.
Nutrition
Serving: 389g | Calories: 413kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 1578mg | Potassium: 1010mg | Fiber: 28g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1320IU | Vitamin C: 32.3mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 7.4mg
