Turmeric Spinach Golden Lentil Dal – Red Lentil Soup. Easy Lentil Soup with turmeric and greens. No garlic no onion No Chop Dhal. Golden Lentil Dal with Bengali Panch phoron spices. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe. Pin this Recipe.
This easy dal comes together in minutes. I use nigella and fenugreek seeds to add the onion-garlic flavor profile so this soup is great for anyone avoiding alliums. Add veggies and baby greens of choice and let it simmer. Serve as soup with crackers or papadums or over cooked basmati rice or other grains.
Temper the whole spices in oil. Once the spices start to pop or change color considerably, add turmeric and mix in. Add the lentils and water and cook until done to preference. Fold in spinach or greens of choice. Add veggies of choice and add in some fresh turmeric!
If you don’t have nigella and fenugreek seeds, add 1/4 cup onion and 3 cloves of garlic after step 2 , and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent. The dal can also be made with just mustard seeds, cumin seeds and some garam masala.
More Easy Dals and Soups from the blog
- Turkish Lentil Soup
- Mushroom Chickpea Soup
- Curried butternut squash soup
- Mango Toor Dal
- Lentil Brown Rice Soup
Turmeric Spinach Golden Lentil Dal - Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (90 g) red lentils washed and drained well
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) mustard seeds
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) cumin seeds
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) nigella seeds
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) fennel seeds optional
- 1/8 tsp (0.13 tsp) fenugreek seeds
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) or more ground turmeric
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) or more cayenne
- 2/3 tsp (0.67 tsp) salt or more
- 2.5 cups (625 ml) of water
- 1 cup (30 g) chopped or baby spinach or quick cooking baby greens
Instructions
- Wash the lentils and drain and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the whole spices in the order, Mix and let them start to pop.
- Add turmeric and cayenne and give it a quick mix. Add the washed and drained lentils, mix and roast for a minute. At this point, you can add in finely chopped veggies of choice.
- Add water and salt and mix in. Partially cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked to preference.
- Fold in the spinach or baby greens. Taste and adjust salt and heat. Simmer for 2 minutes or so. You can also add in 1 chopped tomatoes at this point.
- Serve as soup or over rice.
Notes
If you don't have nigella and fenugreek seeds, add 1/4 cup onion and 3 cloves of garlic after step 2 , and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent. Nutritional information based on one serving
Nutrition
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Izzy Bruning says
June 8, 2016 at 12:19 pmWow this looks so yummy!
Kate says
June 9, 2016 at 6:37 amThis looks amazing! Delicious flavors!
Mae says
June 9, 2016 at 10:58 amI LOVE dal recipes! This one looks so easy and delicious. That chimp video made me cry!! Happy tears, of course 🙂 Thanks for plug!
Richa says
June 12, 2016 at 10:55 amThat video and the whole series is basically tears for all of the feelings. pain and happiness. Chimps are abused so much in so many fields.
Zena | Zena 'n Zaatar says
June 9, 2016 at 4:26 pmCannot wait to try this one!! Red lentil Dahl is my fave! I love the colors of this dish 🙂
Cassie says
June 11, 2016 at 5:22 pmI’ve never really gotten myself to try daal, and maybe I really should! So, I think that it would be very wise that I try out this wonderful recipe sometime!
Stephen Dallas says
June 12, 2016 at 8:44 amExcellent!!
I made this dish last night with some modifications.
I do not use added fats when cooking, and so instead of oil I caramelized 1/2 of a sweet yellow onion and then added the spices. I doubled the amount of spinach, added a chopped tomato and some shiitake mushrooms. We ate it on basmati brown rice, how delightful.
Thank you.
Richa says
June 12, 2016 at 10:55 amSounds Awesome!
Terri Basile says
June 30, 2016 at 4:10 pmThis does taste as good as it looks, no changes needed. Next time I will make a double recipe.
Steve Warren says
July 29, 2016 at 10:39 amFantasticly easy and well worth trying. Thanks! Been looking for recipes to use our Bengali 5 Spice with and this one is my favourite. Thanks Richa,
Marta says
November 4, 2016 at 1:04 pmHi Richa, I made this tonight and I just loved it. It’s also so quickly done!
Just one question: when you write mustard seeds not specifying the color, do you mean the yellow ones or the dark ones? In the doubt I put the dark ones, it was excellent.
Richa says
November 4, 2016 at 1:28 pmI usually mean dark mustard seeds, but you can use yellow if you dont have the black ones on hand.
Marta says
November 5, 2016 at 1:26 pmThank you!
As “veggies of your choice” I put some hokkaido pumpkin… don’t know if that’s very indian, but it was awesome in taste 🙂
Nathan says
November 14, 2016 at 9:25 amThis is one of my favorite, quick dals – and SO delicious. Easy enough for a weeknight dinner. I always double it since it’s just as good the next day.
Richa says
November 14, 2016 at 9:46 amThanks!
Alisha says
April 4, 2017 at 1:06 pmTried it this weekend – it was fantastic! Love those whole-roasted spices.
Tania Di Nardo says
June 12, 2017 at 11:13 amI don’t even really like dal, but my husband does so I tried to find a recipe that piqued my interest as well. This dish did not disappoint. I’ve never had a more flavourful dal! I also highly recommend adding the spinach and fresh tomatoes at the end as it added great body.
Jill says
October 1, 2017 at 5:19 pmHi, LOVE this recipe! I make it all the time. Is it in your cookbooks? I have both of them and I’ve looked. Is it under a different name? Thank you 😀
Richa says
October 3, 2017 at 7:40 pmThe Odia Dal in the first book (pg 100) is similar but its not the same. Some variations in Dals, make them a new dal 🙂 . Use the Odia dal, add some spinach and use lentils of choice.
Mary Claire says
October 10, 2017 at 10:27 amTried this and LOVED it! We’ve been vegan for over 15 years and don’t eat onions or garlic. SO much flavor in this recipe! I even left out the salt and used the juice 1/2 lemon and a T. of apple cider vinegar as a replacement. Worked great with your recipe!!! Thanks so much! I share your recipes on my vegan FB a lot. Wonderful recipes!
Mary Claire says
October 10, 2017 at 10:29 amIn my comment above, the form would not allow me to select stars for some reason. I give it 5 STARS!
Shreyas says
March 7, 2018 at 11:41 pmwhat would be some of the vegetables you would use?
Richa says
March 8, 2018 at 10:06 amcauliflower, zucchini, potato, pumpkin or sweet potato
Joanie says
July 17, 2018 at 5:04 pmThis was delicious! I made a double recipe & next time I will triple or quadruple it; it was that good. I have to have leftovers.
I added carrots & quite a bit more spinach than the recipe called for (my husband loves spinach). I also add 50% more cayenne for a bit more spiciness. Definitely a keeper.
Richa says
July 17, 2018 at 6:18 pmawesome! Yes teh extra veggies and spinach will need extra spicing:)
Jane says
October 3, 2018 at 2:48 amMade exactly as is and my veggies were fennel and pumpkin. It was superb! Thank you Richa – felt a bit ‘meh’ about cooking dinner tonight and this was a really interesting flavour combo and really like a restaurant dish (but probably better as many of them make the food too oily).
Richa says
October 3, 2018 at 10:10 amawesome!
Noya says
October 23, 2018 at 3:07 pmMade this today and it’s SO good! Tripled the recipe and added an onion, 2 carrots and 2 small potatoes for the veggies. Wondering if this freezes well ? Thanks for the recipe I’ll definitely make it again!
Richa says
October 23, 2018 at 3:11 pmawesome! yes definitely. Freeze in a container with the least amount of air onthe top to avoid freezer burn.
Sean says
November 7, 2018 at 1:46 pmwould throwing some coconut milk in here be a good idea? Not sure if it will just overwelm all the other flavours or not but I got a couple cans kicking around and i thought maybe it’d be a good mix.
Richa says
November 7, 2018 at 4:38 pmit will work just fine. sub some of the water with the coconut milk
Ma says
March 5, 2019 at 10:45 amI’m gonna cook this for all my colleagues at work! Do you think I can add peanut butter to impress them even more?? Thanks for your recipes! They are all amazing!!
Richa says
March 5, 2019 at 11:01 amSure, add 1-2 tbsp so that it doesnt overpower the overall flavor.
Ma says
March 10, 2019 at 9:21 amThanks 🙂
i made it, they loved it!!!
Shannon Brisbois says
March 23, 2019 at 4:31 pmThis is the best lentil dal I’ve ever made! And quick and easy to make! I love the flavor that the toasted spices give this very delicious soup! I’ve also made the lentil tortilla soup and looove it too! You are a very talented chef~ thank you so much for creating and sharing such delicious vegan recipes! I can’t wait to try more! ☺️
Richa says
March 23, 2019 at 8:34 pmyay!
Jordan says
June 22, 2019 at 12:36 pmThis soup is so simple to make but has amazing flavour. As soon as that combination of whole spices fell into the hot oil, the gorgeous fragrance let me know that this was going to be delicious . . . and it was! I added some thinly sliced little carrots and some rather limp chopped celery with a finely chopped garlic scape. My husband has had a cold/viral infection for about 3 weeks and he said this soup made him feel so much better. Thanks for all your delicious recipes, Richa!
Richa says
June 22, 2019 at 3:22 pmThats awesome! Hope he feels beter soon
Jessica says
November 4, 2019 at 8:04 pmCould I substitute moong dal here?
Richa says
November 4, 2019 at 8:15 pmYes, you will need to cook about 10 min longer
Jessica Marie Shepherd says
November 5, 2019 at 2:31 pmWorked out great, thanks!
Thea says
November 23, 2019 at 1:57 amI almost never leave comments, but after weeks of nights shifts and eating junk or just being too tired to eat dinner at all, I had had enough, searched up “quick vegan recipes” and found this gem.
While I’m not going to say I followed the recipe to a “T” (I was out of nigella seeds and couldn’t find my cayenne, so I substituted ginger, red pepper flakes and some veggie boullion), I can safely say that this recipe was delicious. At 2:30 am, the last thing I wanted to do was cook, but it came together (beautifully) in 20 minutes with basically all of that being simmering time and zero prep. It was so flavourful, it tasted like it had been simmering for hours!
Will definitely be making this again.
Richa says
November 23, 2019 at 12:33 pmawesome!
erica says
December 12, 2019 at 2:24 pmI’ve made this multiple times now, adding in different veg, and each time it turns out perfectly yummy! Perfect on a cold night, and excellent as a left-over lunch. Healthy & delicious. Make this, and double the recipe!!! Thanks, Richa!
Richa says
December 12, 2019 at 3:10 pmawesome
Susan Sparkes says
March 19, 2020 at 1:17 amHow long would you cook this in the Instant Pot? I’m thinking only a few minutes for red lentils. Been using a lot of brown lentils lately, your Aloo Palak Dal being a particular favourite, but with the Covid 19 panic buying everyone else seems to have discovered the joys of lentils in the Indian foods aisle at the supermarket. So working with what I have in the cupboard. Your moong dal ‘omelette’ is a big hit!
Richa says
March 19, 2020 at 2:19 pmred lentils usually need 3 mins pressure cooking time. If adding lots of veggies then add 2-3 more mins.
Amber says
July 9, 2020 at 11:43 amSimple pantry staples, amazing result. Very forgiving if you are out of some of the spices. This is a favorite to make with big bunches of fresh mature spinach, as well as any vegetables. Good on its own or with rice, quinoa. Can also do in Instant Pot. Keeps/freezes great and is a hit at pot lucks. Thank you Richa, you are amazing and really enrich our lives 🙂
Paula says
October 6, 2020 at 6:36 pmThis was great and so easy to put together! I only recently found nigella seeds so it was my first time using them. Delicious! Thank you!
Richa says
October 6, 2020 at 10:39 pmAwesome
Jenifer says
October 12, 2020 at 7:58 amCan I sub toor dal? No red lentils on the shelf
Vegan Richa Support says
October 13, 2020 at 12:17 pmthat is a good choice & they also have the same flavour profile
Nadia says
October 19, 2020 at 10:21 amTop! Recipe saved to be made again ans often 🙂
Fenice says
January 1, 2021 at 7:20 pmSo delicious! This recipe made such a tasty change to our traditional New Year’s Day lentil soup. I added red and blue potatoes, as well as carrots as the veg additions. The pops of colour from the spinach and fresh tomatoes against the gold of the turmeric-ed lentils make this such a pretty soup, too.
Lou says
January 11, 2021 at 10:27 amLove your recipes, this was so easy & tasty. Thanks so much.
Vegan Richa Support says
January 12, 2021 at 9:12 amthanks for popping in