1-pot Easy Chana Dal Soup Recipe
Chana dal soup with yellow lentils and spinach, flavored with delicious spices! Don't put up with bland vegetable dal soup for weight loss. Low-calorie soups can be yummy and interesting, too!
Author: Sheeba
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal (dry split chickpeas) see note1
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 potato peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 carrot diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cup chopped palak (spinach) tightly packed
- 2 tomatoes pureed
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- a handful of coriander leaves for garnish
STEP BY STEP IMAGES
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Instructions
- Rinse and soak chana dal in cold water for 15 minutes. (note 2)
- Dice the potatoes and carrots into 1-inch cubes. Roughly chop the palak.
- Heat oil in a soup pot and saute the onions and garlic for 3 minutes on medium-low heat. Do not let them brown. Add tomato puree and saute for 2 minutes.
- Drain and add chana dal along with the diced potato and carrots. Add coriander powder, cumin, turmeric, pepper and salt and 3 cups of water.
- Bring the soup to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Add palak and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the lentils become soft. If you want the dal very soft and creamy, cook for another 10 minutes.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Notes
- Masoor dal soup: Masoor dal/red lentils can be used instead of chana dal. In that case, reduce the simmering time to 10 minutes.
- If you are used to lentils, the soaking step can be skipped, in which case the cooking time should be increased by 10 minutes and the quantity of water increased by half cup.
- Cook the soup with the pot open to keep the soup from boiling over and spilling.
- Cooking dal vegetable soup in a pressure cooker or instant pot: Set to saute mode and saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add tomato puree and saute for 2 minutes. Add lentils, carrots, potatoes, and spices with 2 cups of water. Cook on high-pressure- 10 minutes in the instant pot or 5 whistles in the pressure cooker. Wait for natural pressure release. Add spinach, mix well and close the lid tight. After 5 minutes, pour into bowls and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.
- While using a pressure cooker or instant pot, you might want to dice the vegetables into slightly bigger cubes, to ensure they don't get overcooked.
- How to thicken chana dal soup: If you want a thicker soup, just before turning off the flame, scoop out 1/2 cup of the soup and mash using a potato masher or stick blender. You can also cool it and blend with a regular blender. Add the puree back to the soup. Reheat and serve, garnished with cilantro.
