Chana Dal

Servings: 6-8

Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (medium to large), any variety, chopped

• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped finely or minced

• 3-4 tomatoes, diced finely

• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed

• ½ 15 oz can garbanzo beans (no salt added or low sodium) or about 1-1 1/4 cups home cooked garbanzo beans

• 1 Tbsp grated ginger

• ½ tsp cumin seeds

• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)

• 1 tsp coriander powder (optional)

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1 1/4 tsp salt (to taste)

• 1/4 tsp black pepper (to taste)

• 5-6 cups water

• 1/2 lemon

Optional:

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 cup chopped greens, especially spinach

• ¼ cup chopped parsley or cilantro

• ¼ - ½ cup chopped green onion

• 1 cup brown rice, cauliflower rice or quinoa.

Directions:

Rinse the red lentils briefly to remove some of the natural, sudsy saponins on the surface. Saponins are a natural plant nutrient and are not harmful but they can impart a slight bitterness to the flavor.

Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, carrot (if using), lentils, garbanzo beans, all herbs and spices (except spinach, parsley, cilantro, green onion) and water and cook for about 20 minutes until carrots are soft (if using) and mixture is mushy (i.e. lentils are no longer intact). Feel free to add 1-2 cups more water if you prefer a thinner consistency. Taste the dal and if you feel it needs more flavor, add more spices. Also, if you don’t have cumin and garam masala, you can use 2 tsp of curry powder instead.

Allow to cool for a few minutes. Serve in a bowl or over brown rice or cauliflower rice and top with optional greens if desired (spinach, parsley, cilantro, green onion). Drizzle a little lemon over the top to make the flavor pop! Serve with a green salad on the side and enjoy!