Soup and bread is perfect for a hearty meal. It is full of nutrition and quite filling with minimal cooking. Vegan lentil soup can actually be called the Indian dal recipe. This dal recipe has some veggies added to it thus giving it good texture much like South Indian sambar.
I loved having soups during Winter night market when I first moved to Melbourne. Queen Vic Market and other soup kitchens sell a great variety to help you cope with cold and rainy Melburnian weather. Some years ago, there were not many options to eat for vegans and vegetarian.
Now of course, veganism and vegan food is one of the biggest reasons to come to Melbourne. Although, tea is my petrol and I love coffee culture here, both these beverages dehydrate the body. Hence I love having soups whenever possible.Other vegan soups include Carrot tomato soup , adzuki bean soup, pumpkin soup, white bean soup , wonton soup , Asparagus soup , broccoli soup ,manchow soup ,corn soup , minestrone soup , spinach soup.
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Benefits
There is something great about having hot soups , hydration. Hydration makes your skin glow and also keeps your gut healthy. Instead of having tablets, increase your water and liquid intake. Bonus, these are foods that help avoid constipation in the long run. That's all you need when cold and dry winter evenings beckon. While I love having endless cups of chai all day, post sunset easy soups comes to my rescue. It is an easy dinner after a busy weekday and perfect way to unwind too.
This vegan lentil dish can be eaten by kids to with some rice if you want to avoid giving them bread. Also holds good for those who want to go gluten free. Dal also add protein and iron to your diet something you can easily get from plants and thus have a plant based meal.
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- Lentils (horsegram /green gram / whole lentils with skin)
- Quinoa (optional, in case you want to replace some part of lentils with quinoa)
- Potatoes
- Sweet potato
- Onion
- Tomato
- Garlic
- Garlic chives (optional)
- Water
- Curry powder
- Paprika powder
- Olive Oil
- lime juice
- fresh herbs like coriander for garnish
- Salt as per taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic cloves, garlic chives, onions for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they soften, followed by soaked lentils along with 3 cups of water. Let it come to a boil.
3. Now, add paprika, salt and curry powder. Cover and cook on low flame.
4. Cook until the lentils are cooked and tomatoes are soft.
5. Add sweet potato & potato pieces and cook until they are soft(10 minutes), over medium heat.
6. Turn off the heat, add lime juice , Serve hot with bread.
Quinoa and lentil soup
A simple variation to the lentil vegetable soup is quinoa lentil soup.I like to replace a part of lentils with quinoa and follow exactly the same steps.
Cooking quinoa and lentils together makes this soup more filling as quinoa becomes very soft and makes the soup more filling and easy to digest.
Related easy vegan lentil recipes
If you want to try Indian curry lentil soup or dal based recipes, you must try rasam and sambar. Both of them are usually served in South Indian thali with rice or with idli & dosa but you can always have them alone as a soup. There is no dearth of vegan lentil recipes in India as vegetarian cuisine in Indian context, contains only dairy. Most dals can be tempered with oil instead of ghee and this turns them vegan.
I love having lemon pepper rasam especially when I catch a cold. Tangy lemons give you good dose of Vitamin C to restore some immunity and bring back your taste in mouth. Ground black pepper provides heat to the body internally and helps fight infection. Some other recipes you can try:
Variations
You can add more veggies to it like cauliflower , red pepper, butternut squash, broccoli or yam if you like. Delicious!
You can use beans and pasta to make an easy minestrone soup recipe.
Substitutions
You can make this from a can of lentils or any lentil soaked for 20 mins.
Top tip : Always drain the water from soaked raw lentils. You can use that to water your plants, if you want to avoid wastage.
You can cook this recipe in an instant pot, slow cooker and even pressure cooker. However, cooking time will vary.
Storage - how to freeze lentil soup | how to store leftovers in fridge
This lentil soup freezes well in a freezer-safe container . Frozen soup is a great way to use any leftover soup in the next few days/weeks. I would recommend to store this soup in the freezer upto 1 month.
Do not use glass containers for storing in the freezer, the better option is to store in a plastic container , choose container that is BPA free as well. You can store a big batch in small containers so that you use only the smaller portion that you need. Once you have thawed the soup, you should not refreeze the soup.
Allow the frozen lentil soup to thaw and then allow it come to boil over low heat, add little water if required and enjoy with a crusty bread
To store this in the fridge, I like to make big batches of soup and store it in an airtight container. This is the best way to enjoy this delicious soup for the next few days. The shelf life of this soup is 3-4 days in the fridge.
vegan lentil curry soup| Vegan lentil soup recipe
Equipment
- saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil Olive oil or any vegetable oil
- 1 onion medium
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon Garlic chives optional
- 2 tomatoes large
- ½ cup whole red lentils soaked in water or 1 can of red whole red lentils.
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 small potato peeled and cubed
- 1 small sweet potato peeled and cubed
- Salt as per taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon green coriander leaves or any fresh herbs
For lentil and quinoa soup
- ¼ cup quinoa replace ¼ cup lentils with ¼ cup quinoa, wash quinoa and use directly.
Instructions
- Soak lentils in water(double the quantity) for 1 hour or more. Drain the water ,keep lentils aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic chives, garlic cloves and onions for 3-4 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they soften, followed by soaked lentils along with 3 cups of water. Let it come to a boil.
- Now, add paprika, salt and curry powder. Cover and cook on low flame
- Cook until the lentils are cooked and tomatoes are soft
- Add sweet potato & potato pieces and cook until they are soft(10 minutes)
- Turn off the heat, add lime juice , Serve hot with bread.
For lentil and quinoa soup
- Exactly same steps as above, just add washed quinoa with lentils. Quinoa does not need to be soaked.
Notes
FAQs
Yes, you need to up your proteins and lessen your carbs. Dal and pulses are great for iron and protein. Also eating 3 -4 hours before you sleep at night is better.
You can add soup stock and celery to the recipe. Add more garlic or ginger as per your choice and adjust salt and pepper.
Soups and salads, brown rice, juice and fresh fruits like pear, plum, papaya, peaches, mangoes and low fat yogurt.
Marie says
Delicious! I used a bit of vegetable stock paste to kick the flavor up a notch. Thanks for the great recipe, adding it to my staples 🙂
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you very much for your feedback. Yes this soup is very versatile and can be customized easily as per your taste.
Elvira Summers says
Enjoyed the curry flavour of this easy to make and healthy soup.
I added regular potatoes and a few carrots as I had no sweet potatoes.
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you so much for your feedback Elvira. Yes, that is the beauty of this soup. You can customize it as you like.
Heather says
Delicious. My son requested meatless meals and loves sweet potatoes so this was perfect.
bhavana bhatia says
Thank you very much for your feedback.