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. 
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
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
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.
Ingredients
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
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add onions and garlic and cook till the onions turn translucent.
- Next add the tomatoes, chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper. Cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
- Add lentils and 21/2~3cups of water. Close the lid and cook for 2~3 whistles. Let the pressure come down naturally.
- Open the lid and whisk the lentils until smooth. If the soup looks too thick, add some water and simmer until heated through.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir in the lemon juice.
Make the Topping:
- 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.
- Serve the soup warm topped with the spinach and Enjoy!!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
