Vegetable Masoor Dal: Red Lentil Soup

A Turkish-inspired masoor dal recipe that weaves the goodness of root vegetables in a wholesome, comforting soup.

Masoor dal (red lentil) is among the most malleable of legumes – once it reaches a boil, it doesn’t take long for it to mush up. Plus it has a mild taste that makes eminently suitable for playing host to assorted vegetables. These qualities of masoor make it work beautifully as a base for soup.

You Need:

• Masoor dal (red lentil) – 1 cup [buy here]
• Potato – 1 medium
• Carrot – 2 medium (~150 grams)
• Spinach – 3-4 leaves
• Onion – 1 medium
• Green chili – 1 (more if you want it hotter)
• Pepper corns – 6-7
• Salt – 1/3 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Fresh coriander leaves – a few sprigs for garnishing
• Ghee or butter – 1/2 tablespoon

For the tadka:

• Amchoor powder* (raw mango powder) – 1/3 teaspoon
• Red chili flakes/paprika powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Garlic – 4 small cloves (~1 teaspoon when chopped)
• Ghee or butter – 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt – a tiny pinch

*If you don’t have amchoor powder, substitute with a squeeze of half a lime in the end.

How To Make Vegetable Red Lentil Soup:

1. Prep the ingredients

Wash red lentil in 3-4 changes of water or till the water runs clear. Soak it in two cups of plain water for an hour.

Peel the onion. Scrape the carrot. Chop both into 1-cm cubes.

Peel the potato. Chop it into similar small pieces.

2. Cook

Heat half a tablespoon of ghee or butter in a thick-bottomed pan or pressure cooker. Add to the pan the chopped onion, carrots, potatoes, pepper corns and green chili. Sauté for five minutes or till the onions are translucent.

Mix 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder with the vegetables. Drain the soaking red lentil and transfer it to the pan.

Cook together for a minute, then add three cups of hot water along with salt to taste. Tear the spinach leaf into small pieces and plop them too into the pan.

If using an Indian-style pressure cooker, lock its lid and keep the heat on high till you hear a whistle. Then set the heat to low and cook till the second whistle. Switch off the heat and let the cooker release steam naturally.

If not using a pressure cooker, let the dal and vegetables simmer till they are soft and give way when pressed.

Crush vegetable pieces slightly so that they blend into the dal – you could do this in a food processor or using a hand blender or potato masher.

We are now ready for the final touch – the tadka.

3. Do the tadka

Heat half a tablespoon of butter or ghee in a tadka ladle. When it melts, add to it finely chopped garlic. Keep stirring/swirling to prevent burning. Toast the garlic till they are gold-rimmed. Switch off the heat and add to the sizzling garlic a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon each of red chili powder + amchoor powder.

Ladle the dal into serving bowls and sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves. Drizzle the chili-garlic tadka all over. And that’s it – vegetable red lentil soup is ready – dig in! Serve hot as a soup or on the side with a bigger Indian meal.

Meal below: vegetable red lentil soup, methi gobhi, kachumber, potato fries, chapatis.

Notes:

Variation: experiment with other vegetables in this soup: cauliflower and sweet potato, for example.

Like the idea of combining vegetables with dal? Then you should check out these recipes: