This has become one of my favorite weeknight dinners. It takes a while to cook but is mostly hands-off,  and it’s a really comforting, healthy meal that makes great leftovers. I serve this over Basmati rice with a big dollop of plain Greek yogurt on top, sometimes with some cooked greens or other vegetables on the side but often simply by itself.

I didn’t want to call this dal because a.) I’m not Indian and b.) it starts with olive oil and a mirepoix which is wildly inauthentic. But it of course owes everything to those great, low-and-slow lentil dishes you find in Indian kitchens and restaurants around the world.

This is pretty effortless to make vegetarian/vegan– simply skip the Better Than Bullion and serve without the yogurt. Lentils are a fantastic source of protein and iron for those who follow a plant-based or mostly plant-based diet (and everyone else, too!).

Servings: 4

1 cup black lentils, rinsed and sorted

4 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth or water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced finely

4 carrots, diced finely

4 large celery stalks, diced finely

1 tbsp “Better Than Bullion” chicken stock concentrate (optional)

2 tsp. garam masala

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. ginger

Salt (To taste– if you use stock and/or Better Than Bullion, you may not wish to add any additional salt).

1. Saute vegetables in olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot on medium heat until they start to soften and onions are translucent.
2. Add spices to vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add lentils, vegetable stock and the “Better Than Bullion” if using. Stir thoroughly.
4. Simmer on medium heat for 30-40 minutes (lentils vary in cooking time). Lentils should be soft but not falling apart, vegetables should be fully softened.
5. Optional: Use an immersion blender directly in the pot to puree a small amount of the stew. Alternatively, blend about a cup of the mixture in a blender and then add it back to the pot. This creates a nice creamy texture, but the dish is also perfectly good without this step, if you don’t have an immersion blender or don’t feel like dirtying another dish.
6. Serve over rice.

Ingredient notes:

Garam masala: Garam masala is a spice blend, usually more warm and rich than spicy-hot. The one I am using contains coriander, Tellicherry pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, charnushka, caraway, cloves, ginger and nutmeg (it’s from Penzeys). The contents and proportions of a garam masala blend are going to vary from brand to brand and by regional style so you may want to experiment a little to attain a flavor balance you like in this recipe. (I usually add the additional coriander and ginger to this recipe even though there is some already in the garam masala.) Don’t feel bound to the spice measurements, but don’t be shy, either– the richly spiced flavor elevates this beyond any possibility of boring, muddy-tasting lentils.

Lentils: I can usually find black lentils at Whole Foods, but they are not available everywhere. I suspect that green (sometimes called French or De Puy) lentils would also work well since they keep their shape better than brown or red lentils when they’re cooked.

Rice: I really advocate for a good, flavorful Basmati or jasmine rice here. I use whole grains whenever possible but it’s my personal opinion that life is just too short for brown rice. It tastes bad, takes forever to cook and it’s higher in naturally occurring arsenic than white rice (this actually sounds scarier than it really is, but in my house we have some health reasons for being especially wary of arsenic). And if you really can’t get down with white rice, this recipe would be good over some farro or quinoa.