Cooking Vegetarian: 2,600+ Recipes

Gujarati pumpkin dal (toovar kaddu dal) is sweet, tangy, and gently spiced all at once — the classic Gujarati balance. Cubes of pumpkin simmer with soaked toovar dal until they barely hold their shape, and a finishing chaunk of hot ghee seals the flavors. The squeeze...

Vrindavan-style chana dal with bottle gourd (lauki chana dal) is a taste of divinity — soft split chana dal simmered with melting cubes of bottle gourd, finished with garam masala, lemon, and a cumin tarka. It is gentle, slightly sweet temple cooking that soothes the...

Rishikesh-style urad dal with tomatoes is temple food — simple, sattvic cooking in the spirit of the ashram kitchens of the Ganges. Skinless urad dal simmers softly with turmeric and tomatoes, finished with a gentle ghee tempering of cumin, ginger, and dried red...

Bengali urad dal with spinach, plantain, and radish is a three-vegetable dal that eats like a full meal. Cubes of plantain and slices of radish simmer with the dal until everything is soft and tangled with spinach. A ground cumin-coriander masala paste gives the pot...

Comforting moong and toovar dal soup pairs two lentils in one pot — quick-cooking moong for creaminess, sturdier toovar for body. Ginger and green chili keep it lively, and a fresh tadka of sizzling spices crowns the bowl. It is the kind of humble, nourishing soup...

Smoky moong dal with eggplant gets its name honestly — the dal is toasted and the eggplant is browned hard, and both tricks build deep, fireside flavor. Cubes of eggplant fry in ghee until burnished, then slip into a gingery yellow dal finished with lemon. Make this...

Creamy golden moong dal soup — Pishima's recipe — is the kind of dish that gets passed down, not written down. Skinless moong dal simmers with turmeric and a piece of cinnamon while a homemade blend of roasted whole spices deepens the pot. It tastes like...

Mooli dal, a simple mung dal soup with radishes, is Bengali everyday eating — soft yellow dal with coins of white radish cooked right into it. A tempering of cumin, dried red chilies, and asafetida wakes the pot up at the end. Nothing fancy, everything right. I was...

Traditional Bengali mulo dal, a radish lentil soup, turns two modest ingredients — yellow moong dal and sliced white radish — into something quietly luxurious. The radish simmers until translucent and sweet, and a cumin-fenugreek-mustard tempering finishes the pot....

Creamy spinach moong dal (palak moong dal) is what healthy eating should taste like — velvety yellow dal thick with wilted spinach, ginger, and a cumin-asafetida tempering. Lemon juice at the end keeps it fresh. One pot, pantry spices, and deeply good with rice or...

The ultimate moong dal soup is a bowl of golden comfort — just split moong dal, turmeric, ginger, and a sizzling cumin chaunk. The dal simmers until it collapses into something creamy without a drop of cream. It is the recipe you reach for when nothing but warm and...