Indian Lentils Make a Fantastic and Healthy Meal

If you have no interest in Indian cooking, and Indian flavors, then this blog will not be for you. Personally, Indian flavors just fascinate and intrigue, so every time I discover something new, it is time to celebrate. Just recently I discovered a few new lentils and lentil dishes and set off on a new path of flavors and textures.

My husband and I both (thankfully, both!) love Indian flavors. I am the more adventurous of us two, and tend to look for more and more interesting foods and new flavors. When I discovered various new lentils and the confusion surrounding them as far as what they are called and the things that get lost in translation, I wrote a blog about how to sort through all these terms. Click here to read about untangling all of those interesting lentils and sorting through the confusion. 

Mixed Lentil Dal (note the rose-colored rice)

I had been using the little red lentils (more like salmon colored) for many years now, and really loved the one "dahl" dish I made with them. Then, discovering some dishes with other lentils I had possibly read about, but had no knowledge of, I set about understanding all I could. Once becoming conversant with the different split and peeled lentils, or "dals," and tasting many of them on their own, to better recognize their flavors, I am now mixing and making some of my own dishes. Our diet has changed since June, with both of us losing weight, and I have worked to create a diet filled with vegetables and high-fiber lentils. I had been following recipes from a couple of books I have, and wrote about some of these recipes in that same blog about untangling lentil terminology.

Mixed Lentil Dal

After trying some of these recipes, I set about using some of the lentils in dishes with my own spin. I generally add in lots more vegetables to the dish to make it as nutritious as possible. I serve my lentil dishes with rice, but I have been using whole grain rices such as brown rice, Wehani rice, red rice, burgundy rice, etc. Most of these are available from either Lotus Foods or Lundberg. I buy these through either Amazon or Vitacost. The red rices cook up to a deep pinkish rose color, and make quite the contrast with the yellow of the lentil dishes, as seen in the photos here.

In the process of experimentation, I came up with a combination that just tasted so good to both of us that I have to share. I made it with a combo of 

• Toor Dal (split peeled pigeon peas), 
• Masoor Dal (split, peeled "red" lentils), 
• Moong Dal (split, peeled mung beans) and 
• Urad Dal (split, peeled black gram). 

Common flavoring ingredients, added once the lentils are cooked, are such things as onion, garlic, ginger (sort of the trinity of Indian flavors!), mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Other possible additions are such things as curry leaves, asafoetida, green chilies and tomatoes. I used most of these in my Mixed Lentil Dal, and added in some other vegetables, mainly red bell pepper, cauliflower and kale.

Four Dals Used in Mixed Lentil Dal

My husband is not a lover of most vegetables, but I am finding that when presented in certain ways, he will tolerate them. Neither if us ever really ate kale, but it has become a staple in our diets of late. Adding finely chopped kale to most soups, stews and lentil dishes really makes kale easy to eat and like. Plus, the health benefits are astounding! Kale is high in lutein. Kale, combined with lentils, makes a highly complementary nutritional balance, as each contains nutrients the other does not have. Kale is great for cardiovascular health and improved cholesterol levels. It is high in Vitamins K, A and C, as well as manganese and copper. All this, plus it helps with the body's detoxification system, as well.

Cauliflower, which I love and he hates, can be grated finely and added into lentils (and sometimes soup), where it completely disappears and is consumed unnoticed. To date, I cannot get my husband to eat cauliflower in any state where it resembles the vegetable that it is! Again, cauliflower has many of the same benefits of kale (such as lutein, vitamin C and heart healthy), plus a few others of its own, so getting some of these vegetables into our diet, no matter the form, is healthier. Though it is advised to steam cauliflower, as boiling leaches many nutrients, since we are eating the cooking liquid, in the form of soup or the lentil dish, I feel we are getting most of the nutrient value. 

Amen. Off the soapbox!

Mixed Lentil Dal

Mixed Lentil Dal

Serves about 4, as a meal with rice 

⅓ cup toor dal
⅓ cup masoor dal
⅓ cup moong dal
2 tablespoons urad dal
½ teaspoon turmeric
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1½ tablespoons cooking oil or pure mustard oil
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds, whole
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, whole
¼ teaspoon asafetida, optional
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 - 3 green chilies, minced, optional
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup grated, fresh cauliflower
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ cups fresh kale, chopped finely

Set all the lentils into a bowl and wash repeatedly, until the water drains off mostly clear. Place the drained lentils into a saucepan and cover with about 6 cups of water and the turmeric. Bring to boil, skimming off the thick foam as it accumulates, reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the lentils are soft and beginning to fall apart.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and add in the oil. If using mustard oil, allow the oil to come to smoking point before proceeding. Have the pot's lid at hand. Add in the mustard and cumin seeds and quickly cover with the lid. Allow all the snapping and crackling to subside, then remove the lid and add in the asafoetida, if using. Stir well, then add the onions. Over medium heat, cook the onions, stirring often until very soft. Add the garlic and ginger with chilies if using and cook for about 3 minutes more. Add in the tomatoes, red bell pepper, cauliflower and the coriander seeds and cook until most of the liquids from the tomatoes have cooked out.

Once the lentils are cooked through, add the mixture from the skillet into the lentils along with the salt and the kale. Cook for 5 minutes more to meld flavors. Taste for salt. Serve with rice.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.