Lentils and Chicory Greens Soup

Ingredients:

Masoor Dal – ½ cup
Channa Dal – ½ cup
Toor Dal   – ½ cup
Water       -4 cups
Chicory Greens - 1 bunch (cleaned and chopped)
Onion      - 1 (chopped)
Tomato     - 3 (chopped)
Green Chili– 3
Garlic     - 3 cloves
Turmeric   - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice– 2 tbs
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Red chili - 2 broken
Clarified butter - 1 tsp
Oil
Hing
Salt

Method:
 
        Pressure cook all the dals along with green chili, garlic and turmeric for one whistle. Meanwhile heat some oil in a large pan. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds crackle, add hing and chopped onions. Sauté it until the onion becomes translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Once the tomatoes become mushy, stir in the chopped chicory greens and sauté it until the leaves are wilted. Reduce the heat and add the mashed dals to the pan. Let it cook for some more time (5-6min) in a medium flame. Stir in lemon juice at the end. Fry the red chili in a tsp of clarified butter and add it to the dal.  Add cracked pepper before your serve.

Spicy Lentil Soup

Ingredients :-

Lentils – 1 cup
Carrot - 1 diced
Onion - 2 chopped
Cumin – 1 tsp
Corriander Powder – ½ tsp
Chili Powder – ½ tsp
Garlic - 2 chopped
Ginger - 1 tbs chopped
Vegetable Stock – 4 cups
Water - 1 cup (optional)
Bay leaves - 2
Olive Oil – 3tbs
Crushed Pepper - 1 tbs
Salt – 1-1/4 tsp


Method

Soak the lentils for half hour and drain.



Pour oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and carrot and sauté until tender. Add bay leaf, lentils, chili powder, cumin powder and coriander powder. Add tomato puree and give a nice stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add enough vegetable broth to cover the lentils. If needed add about a cup of water or broth.



Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cover and cook lentils until they are soft, 30 to 40 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.

Meanwhile, on a baking sheet, place the Ciabatta bread slices brushed with olive oil; Bake until golden brown.




Dunk the bread into the soup and enjoy! Perfect dish for a cold winter evening!

Vegetarian Chilli

Bought the 16 bean packet from the store without deciding what to make with it. As it has to be soaked for making any dish, I just soaked overnight. I had a thought of making vada in my mind but I didn’t tell my mom why I soaked that for . She just pressure cooked the beans thinking that it would save time for me in the evening. I couldn’t make vada as it got cooked. The dark evening and the bitter cold outside sparkled an idea in me to make Simple Vegetarian Chilli to warm you from inside out.

Soups are always a comfort food to beat the cold and lift your spirits on a cold evening. I took out my slow cooker out to make the Chilli. Note: You can do it in the ordinary cooker itself. You can pressure cook the soaked beans for one whistle and you can do the rest in a regular saucepan.




Ingredients:

16 beans - 1 cup (Soaked overnight and cooked )
Vegetable Broth - 2 cans (No salt Added)
Chunky Salsa Sauce - 1 cup
Jalepeno - 1 sliced in thin rounds
Onion - 1 Finely Chopped
Tomato - 1 cut into medium pieces
Olive oil - 1 tbs
Pepper & Salt to
taste

Method :
Keep oil in a pan , Sautee the peppers and onions. Add the cooked beans to the pan and let the beans get a coat of oil. Make sure you don’t make the beans mushy. Return the sautéed stuff to the slow cooker . Add Vegetable broth, Chunky Salsa Sauce, Chilli powder , tomatoes and let it cook in High setting for 30 mts. Reduce the setting to low and let it simmer for about 20 mts. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.

Serve in individual bowls garnished with chopped Cilandro leaves and shredded chedder cheese.