Dal vegetable soup, lentil vegetable soup recipe

Dal vegetable soup is a healthy and nutritious Indian-style soup with moong dal acting as the base to make it creamy and lots of vegetables (of your choice) added in to make it more wholesome. This pressure cooker soup recipe is one of our favourites and we make it at least once every two weeks as weeknight dinner, served with some warm toasted bread.

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While I usually have good intentions of balancing our meals with clean good food, I rarely plan for it. I came across a garden vegetable soup recipe in Pure and Simple (India | US), I adapted it to my heart’s content and came up with this version below which is what I invariably use these days.

Needless to say, you can add and subtract vegetables in this dal vegetable soup per your preference. I know there are mushroom-haters out there, so simply avoid, or if you want to amp up the greens, I am with you! I even throw in a fistful of bean sprouts if I happen to have some in the fridge.

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You will love this soup if you love the flavour of dal, want a dal-based Indian-style soup recipe (although there are no Indian spices or techniques used in this soup, necessarily) and just prefer to have the soup as a meal, filling on its own. I do add on some bread to make it more wholesome because, well, I am always the hungriest for dinner but take it as you go and adapt the meal per your preference and needs.

Other soup recipes we’ve tried and loved:
Vegetarian tom yum soup
Vegetarian tom kha soup
Carrot potato soup
Bottle gourd soup
Tomato juice rasam (can also be served as soup)

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Dal Vegetable Soup Recipe

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A dal vegetable soup with a moong dal and lots of added vegetable to make an Indian-style dal soup recipe, perfectly easy and healthy.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Soup

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4 -6

Ingredients

  

For Soup Base

• 1/4 cup moong dal yellow split lentils
• 1 cup tomatoes cubed
• 1 cup carrots cubed
• 1/2 cup onions cubed
• 2 flakes of garlic

Soup Add-On

• 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1/2 cup button mushrooms chopped fine
• 1/2 cup carrots chopped fine
• 1/2 cup celery chopped fine
• 2 cups spinach leaves packed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp black pepper powder freshly cracked (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Add the soup base ingredients - moong dal, carrots, tomatoes, onion, garlic - to a pressure cooker with enough water to submerge the ingredients
• Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles or 15 minutes (Alternatively, cook them in a covered pot until the dal is soft and the vegetables turn mushy)
• Open and let this mixture cool while you chop up the vegetables needed to add on to the soup
• Once cool, blend the moong dal mixture to an almost smooth paste
• Heat butter in a pan and add the chopped vegetables except spinach - mushroom, carrot, celery - and saute until they turn soft
• Add the pureed moong dal mixture
• Top up with 3-4 cups water or as much as you'd like to bring to to the right consistency
• Bring to the boil and add salt and sugar
• Finally add the spinach leaves and boil again for a minute or two
• Add cracked pepper and lemon juice, mix well, and serve hot

Step by Step Instructions for Dal Vegetable Soup Recipe

Add the soup base ingredients – moong dal, carrots, tomatoes, onion, garlic – to a pressure cooker with enough water to submerge the ingredients
Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles or 15 minutes (Alternatively, cook them in a covered pot until the dal is soft and the vegetables turn mushy)PinOnce cool, blend the moong dal mixture to an almost smooth pastePin Heat butter in a pan and add the chopped vegetables except spinach – mushroom, carrot, celery – and saute until they turn soft. I use the same pressure cooker pan to minimise cleaning time
PinAdd the pureed moong dal mixture. Top up with 3-4 cups water or as much as you’d like to bring to the right consistencyPinBring to the boil and add sugarPinAlong with required amount of salt and pepperPinFinally add the spinach leaves and boil again for a minute or two. I used  baby spinach leaves and cooked the pot covered to ensure the leaves will wilt through. If using regular spinach leaves, chop them up before adding.PinAdd  more cracked pepper and lemon juice, mix well, and serve hotPin

Recipe Notes:

• You can add any vegetables of your choice to the soup to give it volume. I have tried bean sprouts, kale, methi leaves, cooked pasta, and a variety of combinations of the above vegetables
• The consistency of the soup should be fairly watery but adjust to your preference. The moong dal gives this dal vegetable soup a lot of creaminess so it’s easy to play with the consistency
• Butter gives a lovely flavour but olive oil will work in a pinch and also makes this a vegan dal vegetable soup
• Spinach is optional but highly recommended in this recipe. To minimise prep time, I often use pre-washed baby spinach leaves that don’t even need any chopping. Just add a couple of fistful and you are good to go

For dal vegetable soup recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam, etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.

If you try this recipe, do share a picture on your preferred social media network by tagging me @ediblegarden. I’d love to take a look! Here’s my Instagram account, if you’d like to follow along my cooking and life adventures!