Red Lentil Curry (Masoor Dahl)

Red Lentil Curry

Ingredients

• 4 Cups Water
• 1 Cup Whole or Split Red Lentils, Washed and Drained
• 1 Cup Diced Onion
• 1 Cup Diced Canned Tomatoes (No Salt Added)
• 3 Cloves Garlic (Medium), Minced
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• ½ Teaspoon Turmeric
• ¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 2 Teaspoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 2 Teaspoons Finely Chopped Cilantro (Optional)
• ¼ Cup Thinly Sliced Onion (lengthwise)Optional: Onion and Oil Topping – Temper
• 1 ½ Teaspoons Canola Oil (Optional: Onion and Oil Topping – Tempe
• …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

• Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan over Medium heat, add water, lentils, onion, tomatoes, garlic, salt, turmeric, and cayenne pepper.
  2. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. In food processor or blender, place cooked lentil mixture and puree until smooth.
  4. Pour into serving dish, add lemon juice and mix.
  5. In a small saute pan, over medium heat, fry sliced onions in oil until brown if tempering.
  6. Garnish lentils with cilantro and fried onions and any remaining oil if using.
  7. In this recipe, the red lentils were pureed to reduce cooking time but you can also cook the lentils longer to get the same smooth texture. You can also use a pressure cooker which will reduce the cooking time and you can omit the step of pureeing lentils after cooking.
  8. This is a tasty, quick and easy one pot recipe. Lentils are a good source of protein, fiber and do not raise blood sugar levels if you have prediabetes or diabetes. To increase the fiber content, you can also use the whole black masoor dahl variety which contains the husk.
  9. Many South Asian dishes call for a topping or temper (tarka) usually made with fried onions and/or spices to increase flavor. This can add a lot of fat to a dish as the ingredients for the topping are usually fried in oil or butter. You can reduce the fat in this recipe even further by omitting the tempering step.