Lentil Recipes - Types of lentils

How to cook Lentils
for lentil curry and lentil salads

Lentil recipes are an important part of any vegetarian diet. There are many types of lentils that are used in making lentil curry, lentil salad or lentil soup.

Lentils are widely used in vegetarian cooking for their nutritional value. Lentils are one of the healthiest food ingredients.

Lentils include pulses, beans, dals, legumes. They contain high level of proteins, vitamin B1, dietary fiber, minerals, iron ect. They are rich in protein next to soya.

Lentils are recommended for diabetics. Lentils are used whole or split.

Whole masoor - lentils

Whole lentils are more nutritious because of their husks. When the husk - skin is removed from the whole lentil and the lentil is split, the split lentil is referred to as dal, daal or dhal in Indian languages.

The cooked lentil recipe, a dish either made with whole or split lentil is also called as Dal.

So the Indian Dal which you get in restaurants is made with a variety of whole or split lentil. The dals are referred according to the variety of lentil that is split.

The lentils are used to make a main dish such as Khichadi - a rice and lentil dish, to make a side dish such as whole mung bean curry or to make a snack as fried chickpeas.

The cooking time of lentils is short. The split lentil, that is called dal, cooks still faster.

It is combined with rice as it has similar cooking time such as in Khichadi . Cooked lentils become thick so water is used to thin it.

Lentils are used to make snacks, salads, curries, side dishes, sweets etc.

Whole or split lentils and flours made from lentils are used.

How to cook lentils? Indian Lentil Recipes

Types of lentils - whole and split lentil varieties

Rasam, Sambar recipes with toor dal - yellow lentils

Split yellow lentils - Tuvar dal - Arhar dal

Plain rasam

South Indian thin lentil soup. Served as appetizer, soup, and also with Plain Steamed Rice.

Ready Sambar

Sambar - Vegetable and lentil dish - with Onion and tomatoes.

Serve with Idli, Plain Steamed Rice and Dosa

Mixed vegetable sambar

Mix veg sambar is served with plain rice or with idli.

Green bean Sambar - French bean/string bean sambar

Green bean/ french bean/string beans sambar is a south Indian recipe.

It is served with rice, dosa, idli, meduvada etc.

Ginger lime rasam - Lemon Rasam: A healthy hot drink made with toor dal / yellow lentil. Serve with rice too.
Pepper rasam, menasina saru, milaga rasam : A healthy hot drink for colds and throat irritation.

Dal - dhal - daal recipes

Masoor dal - Split lentils

Methi dal - fenugreek leaves dahl

Make Methi dal - fenugreek leaves and lentil curry

Dal Fry - serve with rice and roti - bread.
Spinach Dal - Palak Dal- Spinach and lentil curry, a yummy accompaniment for rice or bread.

Chickpea - garbanzo beans recipes

white chickpeas - Kabuli chana - Garbanzo beans

whole chickpeas and split chickpeas are used to make

Chickpea recipes - More about chickpeas.

How to skin chickpeas - Instructions for Removing chickpea skins

How to cook chickpeas. - Easy and simple way to cook chickpeas.

Fried Chickpeas - healthy snack

Chickpea Curry - A yummy curry

Chana dal sundal - ghugri

Soaked chana dal chutney

Stir fried Chickpeas - Garbanzo beans - Kabuli Chana sundal

Stir fried Chickpeas - Kabuli Chana sundal - Ghugri

Made with kabuli chana - garbanzo beans, prepared on festivals such as Ganesh chaturthi and distributed to the devotees as prasad, also served as a healthy snack.