Our Favorite Chana Dal, from Herbivoracious

This is our FAVORITE chana dal recipe. So delicious, especially on a cold day in Finland. Recipe from: Herbivoracious. (A few of our recipe notes in red.)

Puri Jagganath Temple Chana Dal, Herbivoracious Style
Serves 4 as a main course with rice, or 8 as a side dish
Vegetarian and gluten free; vegan if you use oil instead of butter
(We like to double the recipe and freeze some for quick meals)

• 1.5 cups of chana dal
• 1/2 cup red lentils
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons salt
• pinch of sugar
• 1/4 cup dried unsweetened coconut
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• seeds from 4 cardamom pods or 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 4 whole cloves or 1/4 teaspoon clove powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon ghee, butter, or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (we cannot find these in Finland, so we have never used them in this recipe--still turns out delicious!)
• optional: cilantro for garnish

1. Carefully pick through the dals looking for any stray pebbles and such. Rinse them thoroughly. Bring to a boil with 4 cups of water, the turmeric, salt, and sugar. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the chana dal (and lentils) are almost tender. Don't let them scorch, and do add more water as needed. (this process takes about 45 minutes)
2. Meanwhile, in a small food processor, combine the coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, and coriander seeds with 1/2 cup of very hot water. Puree until it is a rough paste and the coconut has started to soften. Add more water if needed. Add this mixture to the dal and cook for 20 more minutes. We have found that letting the dal cook for an additional 45 minutes here makes it creamier.



It tastes so good, you will want to lick the bowl!

3. Just before serving, heat the butter (we do not roast them in butter, we simply put the mixture on a hot skillet) over a medium-high flame in a small skillet and toss in the remaining cumin seeds along with the mustard, fennel, and fenugreek. Fry for about a minute, until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Don't burn the seeds. Stir them into the dal, taste for any final season adjustments needed, garnish with cilantro, and serve. 

Vegan "Ancho Lentil Tacos" from Post-Punk!

We LOVE Mexican food and living in Europe makes cooking up a Mexican meal rather challenging because you cannot find all of the ingredients you have at your fingertips in the U.S., but we manage to make it happen about once a week. This recipe (verbatim) is from Post Punk Kitchen, a blog we frequent often these days...red ink are our additions.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups cooked lentils (from about 1 cup dried)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Cholula)
Spice mix:
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt

First combine all of the ingredients for the spice mix and set aside. Also, keep a cup of water within reach, you’ll need to add splashes as you cook.

Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil with a pinch of salt for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add spices and toss them for 30 seconds or so to toast.

Lower heat to medium, add lentils, a few splashes of water, tomato paste and hot sauce; use a spatula to mash them a bit as they cook, until they hold together. If your spatula isn’t strong enough to accomplish this, just use a fork. Do this for about 5 minutes, adding splashes of water as necessary if it appears dry. Taste for salt and seasoning; you may want to add more spices or hot sauce. And that’s it, time to serve!

We use this lentil taco mix as a filling for burritos...so, we cut up many vegetables, make guacamole, a black bean dip, make homemade salsa and waaaaaaaah laaaaaaa...you have yourself a delicious Mexican meal.

Lentil Soup with Arugula

As Charlie and I embark on a new way of eating, whole-foods and plants-based, we are discovering all sorts of new recipes and becoming rather creative with legumes, grains, and veggies (the main staples in this new eating regime). During one of our snow days (yippee, no school or work) I looked over many on-line lentil soup recipes. This final recipe is a mash-up of a few different recipes and it turned out really good.

What you need:
Olive oil, onion, carrots, 4 garlic cloves (diced), 2 bay leafs, 1 tbsn. oregano, 1 tbsn. basil, (you may also want to add mushrooms), lentils, broth, water, canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and arugula.

Saute 1 medium sized yellow onion (diced). Once golden, add carrots, mushrooms (the more veggies, the better), garlic, and spices. Then add 1 cup lentils, 4 cups water and/or vegetable broth (vegetable broth is better...but you can also mix water with broth). Add 1 can diced tomatoes. Bring to boil and then simmer for 1 hour. Add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and top soup bowl with fresh arugula. Delicious!

You can double this recipe to ensure left-overs...the soup freezes well and tastes delicious after marinating in the freezer.

Lentil Curry Deliciousness...

1 tablespoon oil (olive, safflower, sunflower preferred)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2/3 cup chopped onion
mushrooms (any amount...if you love them add more)
2 tspn. fresh ginger
1 tspn. curry powder
1 tspn. cumin
1 cup lentils (rinsed)
2 1/2 cup chicken/veggie broth (low sodium)
2 1/2 cup water
2/3 cup drained canned tomatoes
2 cup spinach
fresh lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste


Oil in saucepan, add onions, saute until golden.
Add garlic, ginger, stir one minute.
Add curry, cumin, stir 30 seconds.
Add lentil, stock, water, bring to boil
Reduce heat, add tomatoes, mushrooms, and let simmer (20-25 minutes).
Add spinach 10 minutes later.
Add lemon juice/salt & pepper to taste.

Yummy, lentil soup!