Urad Dal Soup

Urad dalis sweet, heavy, unctuous, and slightly heating. This is excellent calming food for vata and they should eat it frequently. Pitta and kapha can eat it once or twice a week. Urad dal soup detoxifies the system. It nourishes muscle, bone and reproductive fluids. It helps lactation and energizes the whole body This is not a good food for kapha disorders, especially obesity, nor for pitta disorders creat this soup with fish, vogurt or eggplant (all of these are heating, because it makes a bad food combination that can cause toxins.

4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 c urad dal
  • 5 c water
  • 1 tbsp safflower oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 4 curry leaves, fresh or dried
  • 1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped or 2 pinches cayenne
  • 1 pinch hing
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1

Wash the urad dal twice.

2

Cook the urad dal in the water until tender, about half an hour. Stir occasionally.

3

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves, and stir until the seeds pop.

4

Turn down the heat to low and add the cilantro, garlic, chili or cayenne and hing. Cook until the garlic is slightly brown. Add the cooked dal soup to the spices, then add the turmeric and salt.

5

Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and serve with rice and chapatis.