I. Love. Indian. Food. Indian food for dinner? Yes. Quick takeout order for a weekday lunch–and it comes with Indian Lentil Soup? Most certainly. There’s an Indian lunch buffet around the corner, and it has a cheesy banner advertising 21 items? Uh, hyeck YEAH!
If any of you are fellow Indian food lovers, you’ll know that the stuff doesn’t come cheap. With an order of lamb vindaloo running up to $15-$20 per order (and that’s not even including the naan, and 2 or 3 other curries you’d need to round out a meal for a group), it’s not the most economical of foods to ardently love and crave on a predictably regular basis.
This brings us to the subject of today’s post, the humble—and extremely cheap—lentil. Specifically, as it is applied in Indian lentil soup or Dal Shorva. Dal shorva done right, in my opinion, is slightly thick, bright yellow with plenty of turmeric, heavily spiced with cumin, garam masala, mustard seeds, chili, and coriander, and really really garlicky.
Served with warm garlic naan, is there anything better to easily and cheaply satisfy one’s Indian cravings? I should think not. After scouring the internet for a recipe, I did some combining here and there and tweaking to come up with this, which is a pretty awesome approximation of some deliciously awesome lentil soup I had at an Indian restaurant in New York City.
This Indian Lentil Soup is deliciously spicy, garlicky, warm, and comforting. It’s packed with flavor, and I even devised a no-brainer way to dress up store bought naan that makes it even better.
Indian food lovers—Make. This. Soup. It’ll fix your Indian craving without breaking the bank (or your waistline) on all those deliciously expensive curries and lunch buffets.
For the soup, you’ll need:
- 3 cups petite yellow or red lentils (or a mixture of the two)
- 5-6 cups water (can add more for desired consistency)
- 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 3 curry leaves
- 1 cup diced onion
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 jalapenos, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ cup tomato puree
- 2 teaspoons salt
For the quick garlic naan, you’ll need:
Rinse the lentils thoroughly (sometimes there will be small dirt clods or particles) and drain. Add the lentils, water, chicken stock, and curry leaves to a large pot. Let boil for 20 min.
While that’s happening, prepare the onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos. Grab your mustard and coriander seeds and grind coarsely in a mortar and pestle.
After the 20 minutes has gone by, heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground mustard and coriander seeds. Let fry gently for a minute or so.
Next, add the ginger and let fry gently. Add the onions and cook until translucent. When the onions are translucent, add the garlic, jalapenos, and the rest of the spices.
Sauteé for a few minutes, stirring to combine. Next, add the tomato purée. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the entire onion mixture to the soup pot and season with salt. Stir well and let cook for an addition 10-20 minutes.
Season with additional salt to taste, and serve with naan on the side!
For the quick garlic naan, grab one store-bought naan, spread some softened butter over one side, then sprinkle the minced garlic and chopped cilantro over the top. Broil in your oven or toaster oven and bake until golden brown and the garlic is slightly crisped. Smear with a little more softened butter when it comes out of the oven, and serve!
This Indian lentil soup keeps pretty well in the fridge. It has a tendency to thicken up, so don’t hesitate to add a little water before reheating to loosen things up again.
- 3 cups petite yellow or red lentils (or a mixture of the two)
- 5-6 cups water (can add more for desired consistency)
- 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 3 curry leaves
- 1 cup diced onion
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 jalapenos, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ cup tomato puree
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Store-bought naan
- Softened butter
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- Rinse the lentils thoroughly (sometimes there will be small dirt clods or particles) and drain. Add the lentils, water, chicken stock, and curry leaves to a large pot. Let boil for 20 min.
- While that's happening, prepare the onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos. Grab your mustard and coriander seeds and grind coarsely in a mortar and pestle.
- After the 20 minutes has gone by, heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground mustard and coriander seeds. Let fry gently for a minute or so. Next, add the ginger and let fry gently. Add the onions and cook until translucent. When the onions are translucent, add the garlic, jalapenos, and the rest of the spices. Sauteé for a few minutes, stirring to combine. Next, add the tomato purée. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the entire onion mixture to the soup pot and season with salt. Stir well and let cook for an addition 10-20 minutes. Season with additional salt to taste, and serve with naan on the side!
- For the quick garlic naan, grab one store-bought naan, spread some softened butter over one side, then sprinkle the minced garlic and chopped cilantro over the top. Broil in your oven or toaster oven and bake until golden brown and the garlic is slightly crisped. Smear with a little more softened butter when it comes out of the oven, and serve!
- This soup keeps pretty well in the fridge. It has a tendency to thicken up, so don't hesitate to add a little water before reheating to loosen things up again.
Natasha says
Made it this afternoon and it is delicious! I’m eating it as I write, 3rd small bowl done. I cut the fenugreek in half because I ground whole seeds and fenugreek can easily be overpowering, especially as it sits either in the fridge or freezer. I like a combo of chilis for heat like this recipe, and ended up using one big jalapeño (which I ground with the garlic and an bit of water), some chili flakes, and at the end a tsp of chili paste. Really relish. Looking forward to making the potsticker recipe for tomorrow’s dinner. Thanks for a great recipe and excellent website!
Kris says
This soup turned out phenomenal! I also did it with just 1 pound of lentils (about 2.5 cups) instead of the full amount (only because i had a 1 pound package in the pantry) which worked out great. I also dry roasted my seeds in a pan before grinding them, and I added some lemon at the end for a little more acidity. I will definitely be making this again and again.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Bill says
Hooray Kris! I enjoy this one every time Kaitlin makes it also!
amara says
Oh man. I love how decadent yet simple these are!
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Amara!
stevie wonder says
Made this a couple of times. Delish!!
Kaitlin says
Sorry for missing this comment earlier, Steve! So glad you enjoyed it!
Ryan says
This came out really well, guys.
I didn’t use all the lentils listed, though. When looking at the ration of the beans to the sauteed aromatics and spices, it looked like too much so I omitted about a bowl full of cooked lentils. So this recipe would probably work well with a pound or about 2.5 cups of lentils
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Ryan! And sorry about missing this comment!!! I prefer a thicker heartier soup, so more lentils for me, but your substitution makes total sense. :)
Jennifer says
Hoping to make this very soon, looks delicious. One question, are the curry leaves fresh or dried?
Thanks!
Jenn
Kaitlin says
Hi Jennifer, sorry for the slow reply! We used dried because that’s what’s easier to get, but feel free to use fresh! Might want to just use 1-2 extra as I should think dried are a bit more pungent.
Niels (from the Netherlands says
I found this recipe on Pinterest some time ago, tonight I finally decided to try it. It was SO good! Easy preparation, good description and great pictures. Definately making this again. Thanks!
Kaitlin says
Hi Niels, yay! That’s awesome. You’re welcome :)
Shilpa says
First thing …you deserve a big applause for doing an Indian recipe.. It’s looks delicious and Indian vegetarian food is highly rich in protein which is wonderful for any vegetarian and vegans around the world. We always make lentil soups with toordal, urad dal and moong dal. Adding many leafy veggies and tomatoes. It enhances so much flavor.
A small advise with your restaurant style lentil soup is 10 min before turning off the heat, add grated ginger from top and let boil and it adds the restaurant tinge like heaven.
Wish you a great going
Judy says
Thank you so much for leaving us a comment and for your cooking tip, Shilpa! What a great idea!
Sabrina says
This looks fantastic! I love Indian lentil soup :)
Sarah says
Thanks Sabrina!
gautam says
Hi Kaitlin,
Nice to see you writing about Indian food and your own take on the subject! As you know, “India”, like “China”, covers a vast amount of territory, as large as western Europe sans Russia, as includes many more ethnic groups, cultures and cuisines! There is no Indian cooking as such, just as there is NO European cuisine.
What is seen as Restaurant Indian cooking is as generic as Takeaway Chinese! India comprises as many as 3000 endogamous groups, who have their own cooking styles; although in the last 20 years, these styles are experiencing tremendous erosion and change, all at once.
Indeed, restaurant cooking styles imported from the UK and the west are becoming the foundations of a national “Indian” cooking style, or part of a national cooking style, filling in a vacuum left by the extinction of regional cuisines that are time-consuming and which depend on products created by rural landscapes and cropping patterns that are themselves being pushed into oblivion.
Here is my 2 cents on the Dal recipe proposed by Kaitlin. First, a couple of words on the raw dal itself. Red lentils, Lens culinaris, or split/husked masoor dal, are the orange lentils you see. They are relatively fast-cooking but although they are a dietary staple for me, they do not cook within the 20 minutes suggested by Kaitlin. YMMV. It takes a long while, more than 40-60 min of slow cooking, or even longer in a slow cooker, with the addition of a few pinches of baking soda, for the dal to achieve the silky softness I like. It is also useful to use an immersion blender to partially puree this dal to get the silken yet partially grainy texture I like. Again, YMMV.
Next, there is another dal that is deeply relished. That is the tuvar/toor/arhar dal, Cajanus cajan, or the pigeon pea. This is found in an oily and non-oily split form. The oily form is created by rubbing the split pigeon pea with a thin coating of castor oil to discourage a variety of bugs that are repelled by the natural chemicals in the castor seed. Meal moths/weevils, etc.!! Buy the non-oily dal if you wish. Wash well and cook slowly, again with a pinch of baking soda, if desired. It has been my experience that cooking times are long. Hence, Indians often depend on pressure cookers and Indian makes are suitable for cooking dals. Please be aware of the considerable foaming in pressure cookers. Cook for a little bit beforehand, and skim off some of the foam before setting on the lid; please do not overfill your cooker at all!!!!!!!
Note that if there is scant dal in proportion to the amount of water, there will be a delicious clear supernatant that can be used as a vegetarian stock. This applies particularly to the masoor and arhar dals!
Third in line is the Split Mung Bean dal. Perhaps these are the petite yellow dal referred to by Kaitlin? If so, the split yellow mung beans are also sold in 14-16 oz. packs in Chinese groceries. For Indian cooking, northern style, it is always useful to first dry-roast them WITHOUT WASHING straight out of the package in a dry skillet, e.g. wok or cast-iron pan, over moderate heat, taking your time, until the dal smells toasty/wonderful and turns a light golden-mahogany without scorching in spots. You need to keep stirring frequently!!
Now run water over the dal in a colander, and wash well.
If you want a deep, powerful taste of true Indian spices, try to use stone-ground, water-ground spice paste. This is easy to do if you follow these tips:
To make red chili pepper paste, use Korean gochu garu pepper strips that come without seeds, already snipped into shreds. Drop them into simmering water, and off heat, let them soak to softness. Now either blend them into paste in a blender or grind into paste in a granite mortar and pestle with a circular motion or grind in an Indian grinding stone. This will keep frozen.
Likewise, grind some fresh turmeric rhizomes and use VERY sparingly!!
Lightly roast whole coriander and whole cumin seeds on a cast iron pan or wok and soak in water. Then grind in a granite mortar to a fine paste. Never use pre-ground cumin or coriander. If you cannot wet-grind, use a dedicated coffee mill, and dry-grind the whole seed just before using.
I have some problem with using ground mustard, ground fenugreek in the quantity suggested, etc. as spices in dal. However, you and Kaitlin are free to experiment as you please.
Generally, in dals, in hot oil and ghee, black mustard and whole cumin seeds are added along with a whole dry red chili, to release aromas into the hot fat. Then, curry leaves can be added into that same fat, along with finely chopped onions, then chopped garlic, ginger, lightly cooked. You may wish to add chopped tomatoes, green chillies, cook briefly, adding sea salt, and tip the gravy into the dal, and cook until amalgamated. However, be your own boss. Do what seems to be right to your own taste buds.
Bay leaves are also good and are used for North Indian cooking, while curry leaves are absent in this style.
In West Bengal, and across a wide swath of India, especially in brahman cooking, dals are extremely lightly flavored, and sometimes are simply boiled with no additional spices save salt. This is termed saada varan, and is a staple food. I prefer it this way and is my staple. Boiled dal, rice, a few drops of ghee, and quarterd fresh lime, is comfort food.
Tuvar dal is often boiled with a small quantity of turmeric and salt. In some hot pure cow ghee in a very small sauce pan over moderate heat, whole cumin seeds are added, followed by one whole dry red pepper, some large pinches of compounded asafetida, finely julienned fresh ginger, and thai green chillies with tips broken to prevent bursting. When aromatic, a few seconds only, this is all tipped into the cooked dal, and covered, brought to simmer, heat shut off. Adjust salt, and add pinches of brown sugar to balance taste. Fresh lime quarters on the side. Served with hot jasmine rice and hot chapati. This is orthodox cooking, no onion, no garlic, and no heat either. Just the aroma of green and red chilies. Serve with sauteed green spinach, other greens, mashed potatoes or sauteed potatoes, or green beans.
With regard to Naan, there is little difference to the naan and white flour pitas as sold in packaged. USe them interchangeably. We find that packaged naan is merely white pita raised in price, at least for some brands like Kontos!! Buyers beware!
Kaitlin says
Hi Gautam, you’ve given me and our readers a lot to think about! As for your comments on the lentils, I will admit that due to a botched grocery store run, we ended up with the wrong variety of lentils–the chana dal, and true to your comment, they did take more like 40-60 min. to cook. However, the petite red lentils did cook surprisingly quickly–in 20 min.–for me! Hence the slight tweak in the recipe despite the picture that includes chana dal.
Thanks so much for providing additional color and knowledge for our readers, as, it’s true, I really don’t know much about different aspects of regional Indian cooking–I just know how to eat it :)))
Hope you’re enjoying the holiday season, and hope to see you around the blog more in the future!
Debbie says
Petite yellow lentils – is this chana dal?
Kaitlin says
Hi Debbie, the petite yellow lentils are actually yellow mung dal–they look similar to the petite red lentils, but differ in color. For this recipe I used a combination of chana del and the petite red lentils, but it really works best with the smaller kind, as it cooks up MUCH faster. Tried to save readers the hassle even though you can see the chana dal in the photos! Let us know how it turns out if you make it!
Cheers!
Lorelle says
Hiya – this looks perfect to me – I. LOVE.INDIAN.FOOD.TOO!! I’m in Australia so can you tell me how much is in a carton of stock? Can’t wait to make this baby!!
Sarah says
Hey Lorelle, sorry for the confusion! We’ve since updated it. A carton is usually 1 quart = 32 fl oz. = 4 cups = about 950 ml. So about 1 liter is fine. I wish we used the metric system in the US. It would make things a whole lot easier for all involved! :)
Maree says
Golly this looks good!
Kaitlin says
Hi Maree, glad you agree with us! ^_^
Karo says
Ummm, YES PLEASE <3333333
Kaitlin says
:))) always good to see you around the blog, Karo!
Mark says
Do the curry leaves add much flavor? If so, can you suggest a good substitute?
Kaitlin says
Hi Mark, the curry leaves add a remarkable amount of flavor. I was surprised! :) A good substitute might be to simply omit them and add a smidge more garam masala and cumin to make up for it!