Easy Indian Lentils and rice dish made with dry lentils and chicken broth. This is a simple recipe to make Indian food in your kitchen!
Indian Lentils Recipe
This is an easy lentils recipe to bring Indian food to your kitchen! If you’re anything like me you love takeout Indian food (especially Chickpea Curry!), but the price of those dishes and smells come at a heavy cost, so we leave Indian takeout for special occasions, like birthday dinners!
This recipe uses dry lentils, chicken broth and a few simple spices to make a tasty dinner that everyone will like at dinner, kids included (it’s not spicy).
I hope you all enjoy this Indian Lentils recipe!
How to Make
Sauté onion and garlic together in a large saucepan. I like sprinkling the onion with cumin at this time to really flavor the onions!
Add lentils and chicken broth into the saucepan and simmer until lentils are softened. You can use red or green lentils, it’s up to you!
Note: if you want to make this vegetarian, simply swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth!
Add seasonings, diced tomatoes and fresh kale into the saucepan and cook a little longer. I use 1 cup of fresh kale, but you can use 2 cups if you want it more heavy on the kale. You’ll want to chop up the kale pretty finely so it’s not hard to chew and doesn’t overwhelm the dish when serving.
Serve and enjoy! We love it served with basmati rice.
Can I use spinach?
Yes, some people prefer to use spinach instead of kale for this recipe and that’s ok! You can use fresh chopped up spinach or you can make a frozen 10 ounce package of spinach. If you’re using frozen spinach, cook in the microwave, and then add it into the saucepan with lentils the same time you would add the kale in.
Other Vegetables to Add In
Other ideas to add with the lentils:
- 1-2 large tomatoes chopped up (instead of canned diced tomatoes)
- 1-2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 1-2 cups finely chopped cauliflower (make sure to steam or soften this)
- 1 cup chopped green beans
Lentils and Rice
The best way to serve these lentils is over rice. If you’d like to use something else try barley or baked potatoes. If you can plan ahead try my Crockpot Baked Potatoes which make super easy baked potatoes. Also, don’t forget the naan!
More Indian Food Recipes:
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Red Lentil Dal Soup
Indian Basmati Rice
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Indian Lentils
PrintIngredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion sliced into rings
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup lentils
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 cup fresh kale (or spinach) finely chopped
Instructions
- Add vegetable oil into a large saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Add onions, sprinkle with cumin and cook until onions begin to sauté, about 5-7 minutes. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and sauté for 1 more minute.
- Add lentils and chicken broth into saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until lentils are soft.
- Add diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, 1 clove minced garlic and kale to saucepan and stir. Cover and continue to simmer for 10 minutes, or until kale is wilted.
- Serve over rice, barley or baked potatoes. Enjoy!
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