Best 7 South Indian Spicy Lentil Stew Recipes

SPICY INDIAN LENTIL STEW (DAAL)

Steps:

• Rinse the yellow lentils, red lentils, and mung beans and put them in a medium saucepan with 5 cups water, salt, turmeric, and 1 teaspoon ghee. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are easily mashed, about 30 minutes.
• Heat remaining ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until they sputter. Add onion, chile peppers, and ginger; stir-fry until onions are soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro and cayenne. Transfer mixture to lentils.
• Let mixture simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

SPICY LENTIL & CHICKPEA STEW

Steps:

• In a small skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano and pepper flakes; cook and stir until onion is tender, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker., Add chickpeas, lentils, olives and paprika; stir in broth and tomato sauce. Cook, covered, on low 8-10 hours, until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach. Top servings with yogurt.

INDIAN SUMMER STEW: BUTTERNUT SQUASH, COCONUT, AND LENTIL STEW

Steps:

• Rinse the pigeon peas in a couple changes of water.
• In a large soup pot, combine the squash, drained pigeon peas, tomato, coconut, turmeric, cumin, and enough stock to cover. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
• To temper: In a small skillet, warm the canola oil until shimmering. Add the mustard seeds and when they stop popping, add the red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt. Swirl the skillet so the contents cook evenly, and cook another 10 seconds. Then pour the contents of the skillet into the soup, along with the salt. Spoon a ladleful of soup back into the skillet (it will sizzle, be careful!), and pour back into the soup pot. Finish with the honey, lime juice, and cilantro. Adjust the seasonings, to taste, and enjoy a little Indian summer in the middle of your winter!

SPICY VEGAN LENTIL DAHL

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a 3-quart stockpot or other medium-sized soup pot, heat the sesame oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring often, until the chopped onion is translucent, about 6 minutes.
• Stirring constantly, add the water or broth, lentils, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt. Bring to a low boil, then turn down the heat to low, cover and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes, or until lentils are very tender.
• Stir in the tomato paste until well combined. Cook several minutes more, or until the soup is at the desired temperature and consistency, adding more water to the dahl if needed.
• Garnish with a dollop of dairy-free soy yogurt if desired. Serve hot and enjoy.

SEASONED LENTIL STEW

Steps:

• Bring dal, 1 1/2 cups water, and turmeric to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to very low and cook, covered (check occasionally, and if mixture appears dried out, add up to about 1/4 cup water), until peas are soft and break when pressed with a spoon, about 30 minutes (45 minutes if using split peas).
• Meanwhile, dissolve tamarind concentrate in 2 tablespoons hot water, breaking it up with your fingers.
• Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook fenugreek seeds and asafetida, stirring, until fenugreek seeds begin to brown, about 30 seconds. Stir in remaining 2 cups water, potato, vegetables, chile, cilantro, sambar powder, tamarind mixture, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until all vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Mash dal in saucepan with a potato masher or back of a spoon to form a coarse paste, then stir into vegetable mixture. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring in water as necessary to thin (consistency should be thinner than pea soup). Season with salt and lemon juice.

SPICY LENTIL STEW

Steps:

• Pick over lentils. In a bowl soak lentils in water to cover 1 hour. Wrap cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods in a small square of cheesecloth and with kitchen string tie into a bundle. Separately chop onions and tomatoes. Wearing rubber gloves, seed and devein chile and finely chop.
• In a 4-quart kettle cook onions in oil with cheesecloth bundle over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened. Stir in tomatoes, chile, garlic, masala, cumin, coriander seeds, and turmeric and simmer 10 minutes.
• Drain lentils in a sieve and add to onion mixture with 4 cups water. Simmer mixture, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep ingredients just covered with liquid, until lentils are very soft, about 40 minutes.
• Cut zucchini into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Discard cheesecloth bundle and arrange zucchini in an even layer on top of curry. Cook curry, covered, until zucchini is tender about 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle curry with cilantro and serve over rice.
• *Available at East Indian markets and some specialty food shops.

SAMBAR (SPICY LENTIL AND VEGETABLE STEW)

Steps:

• Combine water, toor dal, onion, tomato, pumpkin, okra, peas, and radishes in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cook until dal, pumpkin, and radishes start to soften, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Heat oil in a small pan over medium heat and add mustard seeds. Stir in garlic, red peppers, curry leaves, and sambar powder. Cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
• Stir seasoned oil mixture into the stew and cook until flavors combine, 25 to 30 minutes more. Stir in tamarind, salt, and red chile powder.