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Plant-Based Indian Platter (Red Lentils with Roasted Bell Peppers)

his dish is picture on the platter at the 9:00 position, clockwise. This recipe is my all-time favorite lentil dish and is adapted from Raghavan Iyer's recipe in 600 Curries. I've made some changes to made it WFPB oil free and reduced the salt. The lentils can be eaten as main dish or thinned with water or vegetable stock and eaten as a soup. I try to keep frozen portions of this soup at all times because it never fails to cheer me up when I know I can have it on a busy night when there's no time to cook.

CategoryBlue Zone Recipes, Indian, Plant-Based Recipes, Vegan

Total Time45 min

DifficultyEasy

Yields4 servings

CuisineIndian

Plant-Based Indian Platter (Red Lentils with Roasted Bell Peppers)

Recipe Ingredients

First of all, check if you have all the necessary ingredients for this recipe. Pay attention to the quantities!
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 1 bell pepper, seeds and stems removed, finely chopped
  • 2 hot chilies, such as jalapeno, Thai, or roasted red pecos or hatch
  • 1 tomato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
  • sea salt at serving time (optional)

Recipe Instructions

Next, follow the steps to finalize your dish and finally be able to enjoy it!

  1. Rinse the lentils in a bowl of water until the water is clear. Drain. Place lentils in a medium pan and add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, 10-15 minutes.

  2. While the lentils are cooking, heat a medium size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and chilies, along with a couple tablespoons of water, and cook until the peppers are lightly browned in spots, approximately 10-12 minutes. Stir in the tomato and turmeric, and scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it. Add the bell pepper mixture to the pot of cooked lentils and cook for another 5 minutes. If making soup, add an additional cup of water to the pepper mixture before combining it with the lentils.

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