Fennel-Flavored Urad Dal Soup

The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking is a good place to start if you are looking for soup recipes. I have tried most of the soups in her Dal soup section. Not only are the majority of them very easy to make, they are absolutely delicious besides. Yamuna Devi says this is her favorite recipe for urad dal and I'm not sure I can choose between this Fennel-Flavored Urad Dal Soup or her Urad Dal with Tomato soup. Alas, I guess I must continue to make both soups as I don't think I will ever make up my mind.

On the menu with:

Aloo Gobhi
Ginger-Yogurt Rice

Fennel-Flavored Urad Dal Soup (Sada Urad Dal)

2/3 cups of split urad dal, without skins
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
6 cups of water
1/3 cup of coarsely chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons of ghee or butter
2 - 3 whole dried red chillies, broken into bits
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of asafetida powder
2 medium tomatoes, diced

Rinse the urad dal well in a small strainer. Set aside.

Blend together the ginger, fennel seeds and 1 cup of the water.

Place the spiced water, remaining 5 cups of water, urad dal and half of the mint in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low, cover and gently simmer for about 1 hour, or until the dal is soft and fully cooked.

Remove from the heat, add the salt and beat with a wire whisk or hand blender until the soup is creamy.

In a medium-small saucepan, heat the ghee or butter over moderately high heat. When hot, throw in the chili pieces and cumin seeds, and fry until the cumin seeds darken a few shades - about a minute or two. Add the asafetida powder and after a second or two, add the tomatoes. Cook for 5 -7 minutes or until the tomatoes are thickened. Pour into the soup, cover immediately and allow the fried seasonings to soak into the soup for about 2 minutes. Add the remaining mint, stir and serve.

Serves 4 - 6.

On the subject of soups, the very first edition of "No Croutons Required", a new monthly vegetarian soup and salad event started by Holler of Tinned Tomatoes and myself, will be up tomorrow, (barring any major catastrophes). If you want soup ideas, you won't want to miss the roundup. We received a staggering number of delicious soups! Thank you to all who helped make this event a success. This month's challenge is closed, but I invite everyone to participate next month. Holler will be hosting the March edition. The theme will be announced shortly.