Lentil Soup/Sabut Masoor ki dal

Ingredients:

1 cup round lentils (you can use flat lentils, I used the one from Indian store, I feel they have more texture to it)

1 tea bag

1 tbls spoon of Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) (optional)

½ teaspoon baking soda

3 cups water to pressure cook lentils

Salt to taste

1 table spoon oil

1 table spoon butter

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Pinch of asafetida

2 bay leaves

1-2 pods of red dry chili

1 onion finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic

½ inch piece of ginger

1 jalapeno pepper

½ cup of tomato paste/puree

2 tbls spoon of Ketchup

½ teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of paprika

½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (can add more if like it spicy)

1 tbs spoon of coriander powder

½ teaspoon of Garam masala (all spice will do)

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup of water

¼ teaspoon of tamarind paste (optional) can substitute this with some lime juice to taste if desired

Chopped Cilantro leaves

¼ cup of cream (optional)

Method:
* Wash the lentil in a few changes of running water, until the water runs clear.
* Then soak them in cold water for about 30 minutes.
* Cook the lentils in Pressure cooker with 3 cups of water, baking soda, salt, Kasoori Methi and 1 teabag
* While cooker is on you can do following:
* Finely chop Onion, jalapeno, garlic and ginger in food processor.
* Heat oil and butter in a pan, when oil is hot add cumin seeds, when they crackle add bay leaves, dry chili pepper pods and asafetida.
* Add Onion, jalapeno, ginger and garlic to this, sauté until golden brown.
* Add tomato puree and ketch up to this, mix and stir well.
* Add all the dry spices.
* Cook for 2-3 min.
* When cooker is cool, open it, discard the tea bag and add the lentils to onion tomato gravy.
* Add 1 cup of water or to desired consistency.
* Cook the lentils with spices and gravy for 5 min on low heat
* Add tamarind paste or lime juice to taste
* Stir well and cook for additional 1-2 min
* Taste for salt, add additional salt if needed
* Add cream and stir well, turn the heat off (I did not add cream to the recipe this time, you can omit it if desired)
* Garnish with chopped cilantro.
* Serve with plain rice. Yumm??.

Photographs and recipe by Surekha.