Vegan

Dal Fry – Spiced Indian Lentil Soup (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free)

This easy dal fry stars Indian spiced red and yellow lentils topped with savory tempering(spiced oil). It’s super simple and so satisfying!

dal fry in the pan garnished with more cilantro

This is my husbands favorite weekend mixed lentil dal fry. After experiments in the kitchen during the week, I generally want to stay out of the kitchen on the weekend. So it’s either eat out or he cooks.

He usually will pick up red lentils (masoor dal) and petite yellow lentils (mung dal/split green gram) and make a version of this dal. He is also very generous with the aromatics, spices and flavors, chopping up the entire onion, a bunch of garlic and ginger, and add the spices generously. The resulting dal always comes out fabulously delicious.

The larger volume of the sauce adds volume and tons of flavor, which work really well served up with a veggie side of aloo gobi, Indian pickle, papadum, rotis and rice.

Yellow lentils (mung dal) take longer to cook, so the red lentils will break down in the dal fry. This porridge-like consistency is the preferred consistency when it comes to Indian dals. If you like them less mushy, cook less time until al dente, and then add the tempering.

For Hindi and English names of some of the commonly used lentils and beans in Indian cuisine, see this post with lentil pictures! Or of course get my cookbook.

There several ways to make dals. Dal fry and dal tadka are 2 of them. Each one uses a slightly different method of making the dal and gives the finished dish a different flavor profile.

In a dal fry, you cook the lentils first and then add to the spiced oil, making the process kind of like frying the dal in the tadka(spiced oil). For dal tadka, the dal cooks with the volume ingredients — like onion, tomato etc, — and you add a tadka/tempering of oil and spices at the end.

Why You’ll Love Dal Fry

cozy 1-pan dinner
packed with protein and fiber from the mix of lentils
amazing umami flavor from the tadka
naturally

More Dals from the Blog

Indian Butter Dal
Garlic lentils – Lasooni dal
Caramelized Onion Dal
Kashmiri Dal – Split Pea & Yellow Lentil Soup…
Dal Tadka Mix in a Jar. Lentil soup in a Jar.

Continue reading: Dal Fry – Spiced Indian Lentil Soup (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free)

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Vegan

Vegetable Hakka Noodles – 1 Pot Indo Chinese Noodles

Indo Chinese Hakka Noodles are packed with peppers, onions, cabbage and carrots in a simple, flavorful sauce. A perfect one-pan noodle stir fry or entree. (nut-free with easy soy-free and gluten-free options)

Hakka noodles in the pan after garnishing with scallions

Hakka noodles are a type of noodle made with wheat flour, but you can use this same sauce and veggie combination with similar noodles, like ramen or soba, if you can’t find Hakka noodles. Use Hakka noodles to make this Indian Hakka noodles!

Indo Chinese food is a big category of its own in Indian cuisine. There are several dishes that make up the cuisine. The dishes are known for being heavily influenced by chinese dishes and then they are amped up with additions like garlic, ginger, green chile, spices and more.

fork taking a bite from a bowl of Hakka noodles

Hakka noodles are a staple side that goes well with any of the Indo Chinese veggie mains like Cauliflower gobi Manchurian (also in book 1), or chilli tofu paneer. To make this into a meal, add some baked tofu or your favorite vegan meat substitute marinated in soy sauce, minced ginger, and garlic.

I like to make these Hakka noodles with peppers, onion, carrots and cabbage and any other veggies that I have. The sauces used are pantry friendly, some soy sauce, vinegar and Sambal oelek.

Hakka noodles are super easy, 1-pot, peppery and a great light weeknight meal! If you make these, do let me know in the comments and rate the recipe.