The tantalizing flavors in this Indian vegan sambar dahl soup will have your taste buds swooning. The best part is how incredibly healing this soup is - loaded with healing ingredients.
Boil the red lentils with about 3 - 4 cups of water for approximately 24 minutes on medium heat.
While the lentils are boiling, steam the potatoes for about 20 minutes. This should be about 10 minutes less than the time it takes to get them fully steamed. They will be added to the pot later and will cook through with all the flavors of the soup.
While they are boiling, this gives you plenty of time to prep the rest of the steps.
Place 1 tsp of cumin seeds in a sauté pan and dry roast until they become aromatic.
Then add the onions and cook until they become translucent. Keep adding vegetable broth 1 tbsp at a time to keep it from sticking.
Then add in the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes more. Keep adding vegetable broth as needed
Add in the tomatoes and carrots. Cook until the carrots are soft, and now add in 1 tsp of the sambar powder.
Check on the lentils - once they are done, take them off the heat and drain any leftover water.
Add the lentils and the sautéed veggies and potatoes to a stock pot and add in the remaining vegetable broth. Let this cook for about 10 - 15 minutes on medium heat.
This will infuse all the flavors into the lentils and the vegetables.
In a separate sauté pan, you will make Tardka. This is commonly made in Pakistani and Indian food as a ‘finishing’ of a dish.
Dry roast the brown mustard seeds, cumin, curry leaves, 1 tsp of sambar powder, and the whole dried red chili on high heat until aromatic - stirring continuously for 2 - 3 minutes. You can omit the chili if you don’t like too much heat.
Once the soup is ready, use a hand blender to blend the veggies and lentils.
Add the juice of 4 limes.
Stir in cilantro and top with the tardka.
Keeps well in the fridge for up to a week. This recipe freezes really well if you wish to save the soup for another time or freeze your leftovers!