Last night, I made Indian curried lentils—a dish so good and so easy, that I make so often, I’ve got it memorized.
This curry is made with masoor dal, a red lentil which is (to my knowledge) the quickest-cooking of them all. The lentils are very small, and break down considerably when cooked. That makes this curry of the very saucy variety—in fact, if you add another cup or so of water to this recipe, you will have a delicious lentil soup. Masoor dal can be found at any Indian market, and they’re also sold in bulk at my local Wild Oats, which means you can likely get them at Whole Foods as well.
Before you get started on the lentils, set a pot of rice cooking. I use brown basmati rice, so I soak 1 cup of it in water for 10-20 minutes, then bring it to a boil with 1 3/4 cup water. When it boils, I put on the lid, turn the heat to low, and simmer for 25 minutes. (If you use any other type of rice, cooking time will of course vary.) When it’s done, just set it aside to cool. I do all this, by the way, while the lentils are cooking.
And now, the recipe.
Per serving: 228 calories, 4.6g fat (trace sat), 33.6g carbs, 8.5g fiber, 14.3g protein
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- Dash of ginger
- 1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
- 2+ cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
- 3 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2-4 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)
- Salt to taste (start with 1/2 tsp)
Instructions
- Heat up the oil (in either a saucepan or a very large skillet) over medium heat.
- Add the cumin seeds, and stir those around until they’re fragrant, about 2 minutes. Oh, how I love cumin.
- Add the onion next, along with the turmeric and ginger, and cook and stir till the onion softens, about 4-5 minutes.
- Throw in the garlic and jalapeno and cook for another minute or so. This smells AMAZING.
- The lentils come next. Supposedly you have to rinse these before using, but I never do, and have never had a problem. I like to put these in the skillet and stir them around for a minute with the onions to toast them up a bit. I have absolutely no evidence that this does anything at all for the flavor, but hey, I like to think I’m innovative.
- Then just dump in the water, all at once. It will instantly turn that beautiful turmeric-yellow. Take that, inflammation. (Don’t you know? They’ve found that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.)
- I bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then turn the heat to medium-low to simmer it.
- I set my timer for 25 minutes (if you’re really cool, you can synchronize the rice cooking time with the lentils). I come back to it every few minutes to stir it.
- After 25 minutes, if it still looks too thin, I turn the heat back up to medium and boil it for an extra 5 minutes. That usually does the trick.
- MMM. Remember, it’s supposed to be slightly thin. It should be scoopable, but still soupy. By now, your rice should be cooked too.
- If you’ve thawed your peas, throw them right in. You can use still-frozen ones if you forgot, but put them in during the last 3-5 minutes of cooking.
- Done! Remove from the heat and stir in your chopped cilantro. Season to taste with salt (I usually add close to a teaspoon), and serve over or alongside the rice.
It is SO good, and so customizable. Don’t like jalapenos or cilantro? Leave them out. Love garlic like me? Add six cloves instead of two. Not a fan of peas? Try green beans. With the right timing, this makes a quick and non-labor-intensive weeknight meal. I would love for someone out there to try this, and let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I do.
I had a version of this over quinoa with a handful of baby spinach at Cafe Gratitude.
Thanks for this recipe as now I can make my own!
You’re very welcome, Janan!
Making as we speak! I’ll keep you posted!
Yum! I’m jealous!
Tried this last night. It’s very tasty, even though I couldn’t make it exactly the same–had to settle for powdered cumin instead of seeds, and brown lentils instead of red. I also didn’t have a jalapeno, but I used some green pepper instead, and I went with the six garlic cloves, always good for keeping the vamps at bay. Even with all these subs, it was good. The spice blend is very authentic. I did wish it was heartier, however. Next time I’ll try it with carrots and more peas. Overall very tasty, and super-easy to make. Thanks, Amber!
Thanks Celia – glad you liked it! I usually eat it with quinoa or brown rice to bulk it up a bit.
I tried this with a cup of cooked swiss chard mixed in and it was great! Good flavor while nice and mild. I didnt add the jalapeno or cilantro.
Adding greens is a great idea, Amanda!
This was so yummy, Amber. I’m sure you already knew I was making it, based on my 1 trillion instagram photos. (I’m a little obsessed…) I blogged about it this morning and linked you back up of course. I didn’t change a whole lot. Just played around with the spice blend a bit, adding a pinch of sugar (I don’t know WHY I love doing this so much, but it works!), subbing in some veggie stock I had in the freezer from spring, and making it a bit thicker. I forgot to add in the peas but had tossed in some carrots anyway, and garnished with green onions, so the photos still had nice splashes of color. And the carnivorous husband like it.
Just read your post! And of course I enjoyed your photos on Instagram the other night
Happy to hear it was “hubby-approved”!
How can we get this spicier where as u want to eat it because its so good?
Dee – to spice it up, just add cayenne pepper to taste.