Indian Red Lentil Soup

Hearty, cozy, meatless. This Indian red lentil soup, also known as Bombay Dal Soup, is made with warming spices that are commonly found in Indian cooking for a perfect meal on a cold day.

Today’s lentil based dish is a hearty and nutritious Indian style Red Lentil soup — it is nothing but our everyday dal ? The first time I heard about lentil soup, I thought it was a very complicated dish until I realized it’s nothing but our very own masoor dal with tomato. My son loves this ‘soup’, so I keep making it for him once in a while.

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This soup recipe is adapted from Tarla Dalal’s Bombay Curry soup recipe. I added more spices because I wanted to add that Indian flavor to the soup. Also I like some crunch and texture in my soup, so I added a tempering with crunchy chana & urad dal. To add some color and a reason to eat more veggies, I sauteed some baby spinach for the topping.

The original Bombay soup is served with some rice on top. So along with my crunchy dal and spinach topping, I added some rice to the soup too. This dish takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish — making it perfect for a weeknight dinner. Serve it with some bread on the side instead of rice and you have a comforting and filling meal.

Indian Red Lentil Soup

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• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

Hearty, cozy, meatless. This Indian red lentil soup, also known as Bombay Dal Soup, is made with warming spices that are commonly found in Indian cooking for a perfect meal on a cold day.

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Ingredients

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For the Soup:

• 1 tbsp Oil
• 1 cup Red Lentils (Masoor Dal)
• 1 Medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 2 Medium Tomatoes (chopped)
• 2 Garlic Cloves (crushed)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
• To taste Salt Pepper
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

For the Topping:

• 2 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp chana dal
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1/2 tsp Crushed Pepper Flakes (optional)
• 2 ~3 cups Baby Spinach
• To taste salt

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Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add onions and garlic and cook till the onions turn translucent.
2. Next add the tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper. Cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
3. Add lentils and 21/2~3cups of water. Close the lid and cook for 2~3 whistles. Let the pressure come down naturally.
4. Open the lid and whisk the lentils until smooth. If the soup looks too thick, add some water and simmer until heated through.
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir in the lemon juice.

Make the Topping:

1. Heat oil in a small pan, add the chana dal, urad dal and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook till the dal turns golden. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 3~4 minutes.
2. Serve the soup warm topped with the spinach and Enjoy!!

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes