Dal Soup
Ingredients
For the Dal
- 1 cup lentil of your choice – split skinless green gram (dhuli moong dal) or split red lentils (masoor dal) or split pigeon peas (arhar dal/toor dal)
- ¼ – ½ tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
- 1 tsp unrefined salt
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped fresh coriander leaves, for the garnish
For the Tempering – choose any 3 to 5 of the following
- 1 tsp mustard (rai) seeds
- 1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
- 1–3 cloves
- 1” pc cinnamon
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ½ tsp red chilli powder/1 whole red chilli
- ⅛ tsp asafoetida (hing)
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- ¼ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp grated unpeeled ginger
- ½ tsp chopped green chillies
Method
Soak the lentil of your choice for 4-6 hours. Drain, rinse and cook the lentils until they are soft. Cool down to room temperature and blend in a blender until smooth in consistency. Heat a pan and temper, as per your choice, with 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1-3 cloves, 1 small cinnamon stick, curry leaves, red chilli and asafoetida.
As per your choice, add chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and green chillies and cook a little. Add the cooked lentils, salt to taste, curry powder and ½ tsp turmeric powder. Bring to a boil. Add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot by itself or with steamed rice.
Serves 4-6
