Dal Shorba is an Indian soup that is made out of lentils. This Dal Shorba recipe uses moong dal (split mung beans) for lentils, flavors them with garlic and chili and obtains a creamy but light texture with coconut milk, overall, a winner for a soup and the never-ending winters!

With priorities at the home front keeping me busy, I have not been able to pen my thoughts down for the blog. You would think expressing yourself is easy right? All you have to do is just speak your mind out, but your mind brakes hard when you have to write them down, especially when you know a large audience is going to read it! Nevertheless, every tide has to turn and now that I have seemed to have found some inspiration and quiet to jot my thoughts down, Dal Shorba receives its much deserved limelight (Finally! It has been lying in my drafts since about 3 weeks now!)

With temperatures rising to the late 60’s and 70’s everyone seems to be rejoicing. Yes, I like the warmth and I like it that I do not have to stay cooped up at home because the roads are too icy to commute and I also like it that there is sunshine beaming through the windows of my living room making it un-gloomy and giving me the natural light that I am so desperate for photography. But, there is a downside to it. These pleasant conditions will soon give way to the unbearable Texas heat. Oh summer, please stay away this year!

I can hear Nachiket laughing away while reading this. He finds it funny that I panic the moment temperatures touch 70 and exclaim “Oh no! Summer is here!” Yes, I am that weird-o amidst the crowd of summer lovers who pines for winter to last just another week so that I guzzle down buckets of soups like Dal Shorba and step out without the fear of a heat stroke!

Sigh! Anyway, so long as Spring lasts (which is about 5 seconds in Texas!), let the soups keep simmering away!

Here are a couple of my other favorite soups if you are looking for ways to enjoy your winter.

Oven Roasted Tomato Soup

Tom Kha, a Thai soup

Here is the recipe for:

Dal Shorba

Print DAL SHORBA – A MILD LENTIL SOUP Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Serves: 3-4 Ingredients 1/4 cup moong dal (Split mung beans)

1/8 cup Toor Dal (Split Pigeon peas)

2 green chilies (Bird eye chilies or whole red chilies)

1 pod of garlic

1 inch piece of ginger

1 & 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or the water in which the dals were cooked)

1/2 cup light coconut milk

1 tbsp cooking oil (or butter)

Salt to season

Papad or Lentil crackers to be served with the soup

Directions Pressure cook (or use a pot or crockpot) the lentils until they are soft and mushy. Meanwhile crush the garlic, ginger and green chilies together using a mortar and a pestle. Blend the cooked lentils to a smooth puree. Heat oil in a pot and add the crushed ginger-garlic mixture and sauté till light golden. Add the pureed lentil mixture and mix well. And salt and the vegetable broth (or lentil broth) and let the soup simmer. Once the soup begins to simmer, reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk. Mix well and heat just for a minute or 2. Serve with a side of lentil crackers. My Take: Use half coconut milk and half cream for a creamy rich Dal shorba. While I have used this particular lentil mixture here, you can also use the easily available red lentils for this soup too. Yummily Yours' Prash 3.1 http://yummilyyours.com/dal-shorba-recipe/

Submitting this recipe to “Snackable Recipe Contest” from Go diary free and So delicious.